A terrible feeling crept inside Jack, as he his entire body was filled with dread of the prospect he was going to face.
'This is really happening, Luna, Ember, Maple, Evelyn, Festus, Everyone, I am never going to see them again... I was so happy that I was free of that curse but now this...' Jack thought as his breathing became shallow.
'Oh no... That means... I will never see William again, or Garrow... I have failed them to the very core of my being....' Jack thought as the terrifying truth was revealed to him.
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Cyril, Capital city of Marshclaw, 5 years ago.
Jack was sitting inside a destroyed building, the entire city where he was at looked deserted and abandoned, and next to him sat his best friend Willaim, a dark orange Terran, who was only a year older than Jack.
"Is she going to be ok? She has been acting like she was possessed, almost like she was going to attack us!" Jack asked his friend with worry.
"Who knows, Garrow can't seem to determine much of the situation other than that she might become one of those... things, I can't give a better description on those creatures, despite most of them have been one of us before," William admitted.
"So this is how we have life, trying to hide in ruins and decimated buildings while monsters are roaming around us all like they are the population of the planet? While everything we care about is stripped away under our noses and then rebuild only to attempt and convert us? just WHY is this happening?!" Jack exclaimed with a mix of sadness and anger.
"Jack... Think about it for a moment, after everything that has happened, one of the evil people in history has been resurrected from the dead, then manages to corrupt 1/4th of the entire Eldritch ruling body. Only for a few years later to start a murder campaign in where 143 planets had fallen under his armies, even going so far as to decimate one of the most defended planets in the entire galaxy, yet he managed to conquer and exterminate the remaining population in there by just a period of 2 weeks... 2 weeks Jack!" William said back with a grimace.
"No living being could accomplish such a feat, no matter how powerful or smart, these events shouldn't be capable of happening in such a short time. Which leads to the question, wasn't this meant to happen to all of us?" he asked Jack.
"Huh?" Jack looked at William with confusion.
"Remember what our elders always used to tell us? About stories of heroes and legends, how we were all born from a single entity, a massive implosion that shattered it into 3 separate beings, which gave birth to the 3 known races. It is called the Allexis Contratis, have they never thought you about this subject? From what I remember Eldritch are very knowledgeable about these type of things and would make sure their offsprings would remember it all." William asked Jack.
"I am aware of what that is, my father thought me alot regarding this, the creation of our races, the death of the ancient race, the rebirth of-" He was however interrupted mid-sentence.
"Rebirth, I think that word defines our future as a whole, hear me out on this, your father foretold Valtrek's return with his visions, yet no one was willing to believe him, but look where that brought everyone, turning into these monsters, I never used to believe this type of stuff either, but when I look at has happened with us, how we went from very prosperous to this miserable state in a matter of 50 years, my doubt was gone, because these things have been foretold, many times over, but like the ignorant fools we where, we passed them along as just religious sects." William explained.
"But still, I don't see what that has to do with the entire situation." Jack admitted."What I am trying to say is, aren't we a danger to life as a whole? You see those creatures out there, with those golden eyes and cannibalistic/predator behaviour? Most may say see those things no longer as one of us, but if you think about it... they behaviour that they are displaying is not alien to us, it is PART of us, yet we don't show it, atleast not while we still have a form of decency, compassion and mercy, but if you take away those things, what do you get? The behaviour that those very creatures are showing. Valtrek might have ignited this entire war, yes, but he did not CREATE it, he merely took an aspect of us and made that dominant over all our other things. Now hear me out on this.."
"I believe, that we caused this tragedy ourselves, we are the blame for our own problems, WE caused this to happen, to have all these creatures roam around pluage all those who are still pure." He said
"William... your theory does sound believable for me, but to blame ourselves for this? Valtrek is the one who started all this mess, HE made us who we are!" Jack replied back with a bit of shock.
"We started this alright, but not intentionally, we did it without realising it, and Valtrek did start this entire mess, yes, but he didn't *make* us act like a wild beast, it has always been part of us, it is in our blood, in our very genes. Now it might still sound unbelievable to you, but how would you react if I said that these creatures where already present long before Valtrek returned?" William replied back calmly.
"B-but, how is that possible, everyone believes that these creatures started to pluage us when Valtrek launched his terror campaign.." Jack said with disbelief.
"They where already present, but not in the same way we see them now today, before all of this, happened, they used to still have a small form of sentience, and actually be capable of following orders, they where like... protypes if you could call it, but now they seem to have deverted back to some sort of more bestial state, either that, or this very virus that we know is infact a blood sample from those protypes, and being used to infect others, wich, in turn, can infect its next victim by biting or killing it." Willaim explained.
"How did you know this? My father has never told me of this before!" Jack exclaimed.
"Garrow told me, and he heard it from others. It is presumed that Terrans where behind this whole *project*, apparently Garrow told me it with great importance, that in the far future that by any hope I or someone else could use this information to find a solution for the entire tragedy. To be honest with you, I don't know much about these creatures either except for what Garrow told me." William explained.
"Now don't misunderstand what I am trying to say, I am not saying we as a race should die out, but what I am saying is that" William pointed above with a finger towards the roof. "Someone up there, any god, deity, whatever thing someone believes in, has decided we should suffer and end our existance like this, I am not a religious or cultural person Jack, but so far nothing has made any sense, so I don't have much difficulty believing that there is something bigger going on than just this tragedy, but more of a lesson, or something."
"Perhaps... but I just don't see what we did wrong, surely they wouldn't condemn the good-hearted part of our race?" Jack said back.
"If you think about it, we as a race have unintentionally caused the demice of 37 races across the universe with this tragedy, of course, Valtrek was involved with orchestrating this, but many of joined him, and din't hesistate to carry out his orders, that is what our dark problem is Jack, that so many of wish to remain as a dominant race in the galaxy, it can drive many hungry for power in order to maintain such a status, and Valtrek obviously had a large hunger for power without a doubt." William said.
"You are not an Eldritch or have been raised by one, yet you talk about religion, fate and the overall situation of our race like you are an expert at it." Jack told him, noting just how deep William had gone into the subject.
"I am merely looking at it from a different perspective, if we would want a solution to all of this, such a mindset will come in handy, we will need to look beyond what is logic in order to determine what will work, because obviously magic has no rime or reason either from what you showed me." William said with a shrug.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say magic has no logic, it still has boundaries to what and what not is possible." Jack said as a smile crept across his face.
"Guess I gotta hand that one to you, but then again I don't need magic to cross boundaries, all I need is some equipment and random junk, that makes me able to create an electrifying sword with just a bunch of wires and some broken devices." William replied with a smug smile.
The 2 shared a long laugh.
"Still, I do wish none of this would have happened, all those who have to suffer from this, I just can't begin to imagine how it feels to turn into one of those creatures." Jack admitted.
"Nobody would have wanted this to happen, but it happened, and the only thing that we can do is survive, perhaps find a solution one day, but for now, as long as we have each other, nothing can deter is us, ever." William said.
"So, even if we would happen to get separated, you would never give up on me?" Jack asked him
Instead of answering, William grabbed a knife from one of the drawers and made a small cut in his right hand, in which, he then handed the knife to Jack "Your turn." he simply said.
"What for? I don't follow?" Jack asked him with confusion.
"It is symbolism, a sign of our unbreakable bond and friendship, a blood oath that we will hold forever, isn't that you wanted? Well, here we are signing our eternal friendship." William said back.
Jack didn't hesitate to grab the knife, he then made a small cut in his right hand as well, and then held each other's right hands together, the wounds connecting to each other.
"May we lead a good life together, Jack." William said with a smile
"And may it never change us!" Jack declared, a grin plastered on his face.
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Jack's eyes started to water as the memory was playing in his mind almost like a movie, remembering every single sentence and action that had been made at that moment. His breathing had stopped for a moment as he could not believe it was happening.
'I... I have failed him, we had been through so much together, shared so many secrets and were impossible to separate, and this is how I repay him... I could see his face before I got captured, I could see the devastation on his face. Back then my friendship with him was the only thing holding me together, but when that got destroyed, I became an empty shell, a shell that wanted to be put out of his misery. And just when I had hoped I would perhaps see him someday, I get infected, the very thing I vowed to not let happen, I would not...' Jack thought as he didn't finish his thought, his body went limp and collapsed on the front part of the saddle, his head landing on Evelyn's scales.
'I don't want to die...'
His breathing went on for a few more moments before it on into a very slow and silent pace, and his body stopped moving altogether.
He just wanted to escape the cruel world around him, cruwling up in a ball and hide from everyone, his mind had gone in such a panic and disarray that his body had sensed the panic and has shut off his body completely, throwing in some sort of small coma. He had already displayed such capabilities back when he had his brain almost fried at one point, only now it was something that had been bothering for almost his entire life, nothing could compare to how much he had worried about this, and with one final bang, his world crumbled completely before his eyes.