The Forbidden Domain - Part 8

There was also lots of new dialog that he was encountering and it was exciting. He took a short break from the computer to grab some extra snacks and visit the bathroom. It would be a long haul tonight and he needed to be prepared for everything that could happen.

                                                                                                    

It was near the end. It was the night of the lunar eclipse, it was always after that that He reset time and I had to deal with everything once again. Should he not get what he wanted then he would surely do it again. What he did not know is that I had plans of my own.

Now that my vision of clear and I knew what he was doing it was easy to notice that he had been trying to manipulate me and force me to act certain ways. I played along with him. I needed to wait until the showdown between me and Valarie.

This eclipse was special because it forced the powers dwelling inside Valarie to be released in an uncontrollable format. I alway had been there in the final attempt to stop Valarie even if it resulted in her death.

From the different resets I had been privy to there could be multiple results from this. It could go out of control killing us both. I could succeed in killing her with his help and prevent the power from wreaking havoc. She would defeat me and then he would calm her powers using the strength of his feelings. I had seen them all before multiple times although there had been some variation. This time however I had a plan for a different ending.

He was manipulating us to try a different ending as well, maybe this one was the one that he was looking for. In his version I think he will attempt to force me to abandon my morals and join Valarie. Little did he know how much in common his ending had with the one I had planned, although after that point there would be many differences.

The top floor of the observatory was where it usually happened. I climbed the stairs one step at a time until I reached the top. Valarie was there and he was standing there right next to him. I was carrying my sword with me. The sword was the Shīringuken, it was made ages ago to fight evil and had been passed to me via my Master. It was of unmatched quality and although it had no special powers of its own the makeup of the blade let it withstand the techniques I had been granted by Master.

I pointed my sword at Valarie and said, “This ends here Valarie. I can not let you destroy the world with your power.” I looked up at the hole where the telescope poked out into the sky. The moon shone bright and ominous and within a few minutes the eclipse would begin for real. “Soon you will lose control. Surrender yourself to my blade now and I can at least promise that your death will be quick and relatively painless.”

Valarie spoke her words in response, “Come what may I will not meekly surrender myself to you. It is my life and even if the world will crumble I still have the right to live it.” She looked over toward him and smiled, like she did when he was on his side. She spoke to him, “With you at my side I’m sure I can withstand any trial that comes tonight.”

He placed his hands on her shoulder but spoke to me, “Valarie is right. Yiskah, don’t you see. What she is is no fault of her own and we should not blame her for it.” This had all been according to the primary sequence but his choice of words was not changing.

This time he had spent almost as much time with me as he had spent with Valarie. He had learned about my past, once again, and leveraged that against me to make he follow his ending.

“Yiskah, she is not unlike you. You were an orphan, however your entire life was not rules by one mark against you. You were still able to have a happy life and become the person you are today and you still have a bright future ahead of you despite the darkness in your past. However the ones who sent you here are trying to steal that away from Valarie.

“They think that her future contains only darkness and she should be eliminate but I believe that they are wrong. There is no evil in darkness and that in whatever world that she brings us to after destroying this one will be better then what exists here. Please Yiskah, help us, help save this world from the discrimination that exists within it.”

My hands wavered with my sword but that was just an act. I was still playing to his tune until the moment arrived. “Do you think that is really possible? That the world will be a better place?” There was some truth in my words, the pain and rage inside me desired released.

He nodded, “Indeed, this world is dirty and infected and this is the only way to fix it. Now watch” He pointed upward as the eclipse began. “We can all go to the new world together.”

                                                                                                    

Lyle Clarke was feeling quite good about how the ending was progressing. At this point he was basically just watching the ending unfold. The game had a good autoplay text system where he could just sit back and listen to the character talk to each other. Occasionally he would need to lean forward and select a dialog option for his character.

He watched as the lunar eclipse started and was preparing for the special ending to behind the final moments.

However was he did so he saw Yiskah smile and say, “Unfortunately for you the ending that you are seeking is not going to be happening today.” Lyle frowned and leaned forward. For a moment he thought that Yiskah was actually talking to him and not his character. Had he messed up and Yiskah was now going to mess up his plans.

Yiskah turned to Valarie. Valarie’s left arm was glowing. Normally Valarie wore long sleeved shirts to hide the rune on her arm but tonight was special and she was wearing clothing that was far more flattering.

Yiskah spoke to her and said, “Normally I would tell you to stop or that I would kill you but I have come to a realization. Now I want you to do what I have been attempting to stop you from doing all this time. I want you to destroy the world.”

Valarie looked genuinely confused, shocked would be the right word. It was like Yiskah was speaking nonsense to her, “What are you talking about? Why are you saying this?”

Lyle was confused as well but the game was giving him no text choices so he just continued to watch. This was a strange ending so even if it was not what he was looking for he still wanted to watch it to completion.

“You too will want to destroy the world soon. And right now I’m tearing away this fake illusion and we are showing to each other. No matter what happens this will be the end for us, all three of us.”

Valarie began to hide her emotions now which seemed uncharacteristic for her, “What is the point? This is the end. When tomorrow dawns what you are doing now will be forgotten by him.”

“That is where you are wrong. We are all actors in this farcical play where we all think that the others are not actually pretending. He is no different then you or me. No, worse, he is the cause of everything.”

There was really anger and sadness in Yiskah’s eyes which almost made Lyle question what he was seeing. This ending was stranger then anything he had seen before.

Valarie said, “Surely you can not be right. If that was the case then…”

She paused and Yiskah finished the sentence, “Then everything, right from the beginning was fake. Every last bit of it. And I have all the proof I need. I can show you without a shadow of a doubt that what I am saying is true.”

Valarie bit her lip as she spoke back, “Then do just that. Prove it.”

“Alright. Valarie, this man, the one standing beside you. The one we have both spent so much time with and experienced so much with. Tell me. What is his name?”

Lyle frowned like he was actually the person standing there. It was obvious what his name was. He had entered it at the very beginning of the game. He had used he own real name when he started each new game file.

Then he frowned more, actually was she right? He didn’t think any of the dialogue included his name. He wouldn’t normally think it was strange, after all the game was fully voiced so it would have been impossible for them to voice act all possible different names. Even the male character who he represented was voiced so there never would be an option for him to say his name.

Yet why were the characters in the game asking this question?

Valarie simply stood there. Her jaw moved like she was trying to make sounds with it but nothing was coming out. Her eyes flicked back and forth like she was trying to find the answer but nothing was coming to her.

Yiskah turned toward Lyle’s screen and she stared at him. There was some sinister smile on her face, an emotion he had never seen in her before. She spoke to him, and it once more felt like he was actually getting spoke too, “It is now to late for you too. Even if you try to change this now that has been done can not be undone, not even by you. I will never let you have what you want. I can only hope that your pain will be as great as the pain you have caused me.”

Lyle was having difficulty following in the plot. Sure he might had done some things to slightly anger Yiskah this run but she should still be supportive of him. However there was this weird nagging doubt, something that couldn’t possibly be true, that she was speaking not to his character but actually to him.

He glanced at the text bar wondering if he would have a dialog option but the bar was done. The screen was just the full image of what was happening in the game. Even his menu options was gone. Everything about this ending was getting rather strange.

Valarie was also looking strange. She was almost convulsing while holding her left arm. She hadn’t said anything since Yiskah had said that thing about names. Sure it was a strange realization but it shouldn’t be this major of an issue.

Yiskah looked back to her with Lyle and she took a few steps forward. “Is it painful? I knew exactly how you feel. I wanted to pretend it was false too but He is the cause of everything. All those times we have lived through this is all his fault. When I understood that I think I truly understood you. Some things are more important then the world. For you it is your right to choose your life, but for me it was revenge.”

She continued, “He used me, tricked me, and then pretended it never happened. Nothing could be more painful than that. You feel it now. I asked you once before for you help with this problem. I remember what you told me. This time I will truly ask for your aid because I no longer desire your death. This world, which allows this to happen, can not be allowed to exist.” Yiskah reached out her hand toward Valarie and said, “Don’t you agree?”