And here we go, end this piece with a bow, my friend.
Forum Curses Entr’acte: Who Am I?
Chapter 5: As I walk in the Valley of the Shadow of Absence
He opened his eyes to grey skies, his dark room. Reaching over to turn on the lamp by his side, a sigh softly shifted out his mouth, hanging open gently. The light felt blinding between the monotone movement of morning. Such was the rest of life. Less was the excitement of years ago, and ever more was the longing for something to break this same and same again theme.
The action of the week still passing was not enough: it just kept adding to disappointment upon disappointment, no fun, just sadly predictable outcomes.
Next to him the ghostly axe sat, the sharpness of its blade like a sly, tempting smile.
On the topic of action, he checked his phone for emails. No reply from Dr. Mahn. Nothing from Troy, or Serena.
Concerning, very concerning. Other than risking going to the Academy and telling them face to face, there was nothing he could do. That would have to do, but there was still time until then.
His shower first hit him with a rush of cold, reflecting off the nothingness permeating his mind. The towel felt coarse, so did his clothes. So did the cereal.
The sounds of news flashed across a screen in the living room.
“Good morning. This is the seven o’clock news coming from our studio in the Eleventh, Nyx District. The body of Morock Thorne, thought missing until early this morning, has been found not too far from Odysseus Academy on North Road. Students have been warned to stay away from Park East for the time being. Morock Thorne was wanted for the deaths of Angelina and Robert Maudite in the summer a few years ago. Nothing has been heard from the daughter of the two, and police are saying they suspect murder, although there is little evidence pointing to a suspect.
For more on this, please visit our website.
In other news…”
William stopped listening at this point - Morock Thorne, dead?
Not as if it wasn’t deserved, the damage done to poor Serena was irreversible. The timing was off, with the fires and the wars and the rest of it: another incident just made him uncomfortable.
He had to find the Doctor, it only just occurred to him that time was ticking.
He finished his cereal, murmured a goodbye to his dad, took his bag and ram out of the door.
This just might be what excitement he was looking for. In this case, excitement meaning the growing sense of fear.
Odysseus Academy was silent even in the presence of all the students. Everyone seemed uncomfortable, even the axe which lay in the flowerbed of roses, an attempt to decorate the school into somewhere pleasant. The Doctor, find him.
Quickly, he went up into the Science Department, heading towards Dr. Mahn’s room.
It was blocked off with yellow tape, and a warning sign “Do Not Enter.”
Behind the tape was a brutal scene, chairs tipped over, windows smashed in.
“The hell…”
“Will!”
A frenzy of coughs were heard nearby, and Serena stumbled up to him, clutching her side.
“Troy… where’s Troy?”
William looked confused “Troy? I haven’t seen him.”
“Neither have I, he didn’t answer any of my messages yesterday.”
She looked as if standing was difficult.
“Where’s Doctor Mahn?”
“Don’t you know? He’s with the police. After the break-in a few days ago.”
“Break in? Police? Are you telling me he’s not here?”
“No… he’s not here.”
Serena looked as if she was about to collapse.
If both the Doctor and Troy were missing… and Serena was in this state.
“Serena. Listen to me. I’ll explain once we’re safe, we need to leave now.”
“Why?”
“Look at you. You’re half dead, showing up to school like a ghost. Troy would kill me if I didn’t ensure you were safe.”
She shook her head. “You can’t fool me Will. Emotion isn’t your game.”
Although Serena was weakening by the second, nobody thought twice as we left the school. Everyone was still shocked with everything. William looked back, hardly regretfully at the hundreds of people whose lives were about to be put at risk.
They rushed to Serena’s house, nobody was home. She struggled even to walk up the stairs.
“Troy… Troy… Where is he…”
“When did you last see him, Serena?”
“Wednesday. He came round here and left some stuff, and I haven’t been able to contact him since.”
She had left a bag, along with a few things which were in it, on her desk.
“I… there must be clues here…”
He motioned for her to sit down,
“No no, I’ll help.”
“No you can’t, sit down.”
He leant over and turned on a small television, navigating through a menu to the local news channel. Nothing yet.
Checking the contents of the bag, he only found a few items which could be used to pinpoint where Troy was. Some random - cryptic - doodles and notes mainly.
[Item A: A graffitied Textbook, Front]
[Item B: A Scrap of Paper]
[Item C: A map, mostly unmarked]
[Item D: Written message from Troy]
Nothing concrete. So he tried to contact him directly again, his heart leapt when one of the notifications on his phone was, ‘Message from Unknown Number’
‘You told nobody - well done.’
Looking up at the previous messages sent caused a violent shiver to shoot down his spine.
‘William, Do not go to the Academy for the remainder of this week. This is your only warning.’
He had replied, nervously. ‘Who’s this? The joke isn’t funny.’
‘I do not joke.’
Still slightly unsteady, he messaged Troy. ‘Troy, where are you? Serena’s ill or something. Please reply.’
Five minutes - nothing.
Ten? Nothing.
Fifteen.
“Breaking news.”
He jumped at the sudden loud voice.
“We bring you news from Odysseus Academy, where not too long ago, a fire broke out.”
A video of the school, with seemingly a third of it in flames, was shown on the screen.
“Students have been evacuated, no exact details on injuries have been shared. Students will be sent home as soon as possible, supervised by police and staff of the school. More news will be shared later.”
He was without words: Unsure of what to do or say.
“Serena…”
She opened her eyes, mumbling as if she had just awoken. As she came to her senses, her eyes grew wide.
“No… Troy… what if he’s…”
Ping! A notification.
‘You’re at Serena’s place right?’
‘Yes. She’s not doing so well.’
He took a sigh of relief: Troy was alright.
“Serena, Troy’s on his way.”
She smiled, as much as she could.
And then we waited. William was restless, hoping that nobody was harmed in the fire. He was this close to- no. He couldn’t have prevented it. Staying for too long would have put him at risk, and put Serena at risk.
Time passed. The axe lay next to the window, waiting.
Minutes later, Troy rushed into the room. “Serena!”
She looked up, “Tro…y”
“I’m so sorry… are you alright?”
They embraced tightly, William looked away, not wanting to disturb their moment.
“I know how to stop the burns… He told me, the Cursesmith can help us.”
Serena sighed. “Are you sure we can trust this… Cursesmith?”
The boy nodded, “Yes of course… later… meet Park East later tonight. You too Will, the Cursesmith said he sees promise in you.”
William looked back. “Is this some kind of joke…? What’s a Cursemith. I don’t think this is the right time to joke.”
He shook his head, “Oh no this isn’t a joke. Meet me later, trust me.”
The sky was dull with the growing night. William Strong was standing behind a bush, hiding in the dim light, clutching the axe. He didn’t remember picking it up, it was there all the same. Troy stood on the other side, unaware of his presence.
A large, black cube lay on the floor before him.
“And you’re sure this thing is safe, Tavish?”
“I learnt from the best. Touch the Curse.”
Troy hesitated. “What will it do?”
“What you need it to. I do not give these things out for no reason.”
The boy’s brown hair shimmered for a second, as he outstretched his arm for the cube. A jolt shot up through Troy’s body, suspending him in the air for what seemed like seconds, the cube turned into dust, swirled around - forming numbers. Ones, zeros, all moving rapidly, until they were gone. Troy fell to the floor, breathing in slow, laboured gasps.
“Troy?”
Serena ran up to him.
He smiled, “I’m fine… just… overwhelmed that’s all.”
She hugged him. “Why did you want to meet here… of all places.”
“Not me, the Cursesmith.”
“Can I meet this Cursesmith?”
The world turned dark - everything for a second turned black, then back to the dim light as if someone had accidentally pressed a switch. A second cube had appeared, emanating an uncomfortable heat. It was pure white, flickering like a flame.
Troy smiled. “This… this will stop the pain, this will let you control the burns. Please, take it.”
William audibly gasped, although neither of them took notice.
“White… flames? No… no…”
“Serena. Take. The. Curse.”
Troy’s voice was different: unusual. Deeper, rougher.
“No… I don’t want to… don’t make me go near the fire…”
“Serena Angelina Maudite. Take the Curse, Rise as the Cursesmith’s disciple. All the power will be yours.”
Her face shrunk back, a pained look in her eyes, feet moving. Running away from Troy.
Or was it ever Troy?
TAITC frowned. “I guess not.”
And as William blinked, a sword had already embedded itself in Serena’s body, which fell over limp, as TAITC withdrew the sword, it seemed like a faint sense of empathy was awoken. “Serena… What… what did you do to-”
It was instantly gone.
With a sudden surge of confidence, William ran up to Troy, axe in hand.
“Murderer!”
Instantaneously, Troy was behind him, slicing open his wrist with a flick. “William.”
“What did you do to… what did you do to Troy?”
With a twist of the blade again, the sword came flying up towards his own neck, just parried by the axe as it moved seemingly by its own thoughts.
The enemy snarled and jumped inhumanly high up, summoning one of the strange cubes to launch at Will. It was a faint green in colour, sort of lime, glowing with malice.
“NO!”
The cube barely missed, and William plunged forwards, feeling the axe make contact with bone.
The look of sadness that washed over Troy’s face caused William to falter.
“Oh… I… Tell Serena I’m sorry… tell the Doctor… he’s…”
A singular tear dropped from his eye, and the young boy’s body crumpled, dropping the sword with it.
One arm fell around Serena’s corpse. Blood soaked through their clothes, along with the tears of William.
Oh, what tortured absence this left him with. Nothing. Nothing left but absence of his friends, and presence of nothing, nothing and then nothing.
The two cubes - the white and green one - disappeared, picked up.
The boy took the sword, and held it up, oh what he’d give to have a strong will now.
Silence, a single scrap of paper was left in Troy’s pocket, untouched by blood.
[Item E: The Curse Table, Incomplete]
The man behind him flicked the shrunken cube like a coin. “Heads. Hello there William, that’s the second time the dastardly axe of his has killed me. I’ll attribute it to Troy’s inexperience with the Glitch. Let’s be friends, if we aren’t already. I’m the Cursesmith, Gods and Titans have fallen to my blade, and with you - as long as we get rid of any traces of him, I’ll be stronger than-”
Fearing the rest of the words, William brought the sword to his own neck.
…
“Oh, nevermind. I guess that’s not the plan anymore…”
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“Hey. It’s me again. I tried to get us out but… well, we’re stuck. Sorry.
I forgot about the Horse. It let some things through from what happened with Tammy, some thoughts, feelings, emotions, Him. Sorry I couldn’t warn you in time. Time is ticking, this Universe is a dangerous place now.
Until both his steed, and the Glitch Curse are actually gone - we aren’t safe.
I can’t help you any more, I’ll leave it up to you. Take my hand, and let us end this piece with a bow. The second act is nigh on us, friend.”
Forum Curses: Entr’acte, End of the Piece.
Vote on the order that the Sources will be published in.
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Forum Curses Entr’acte: Who Am I? - Off Topic - Arcane Odyssey
Good luck.
