The Legend of Samuel Mason Pt. II - The Hunt

The Legend of Samuel Mason Pt. II follows where Pt. I left off. Darkstar operative and Paladin Reincarnate Samuel "The Blackflame" Mason continues his quest to find and unite the Subjects of Quinta. After obtaining intel that to find the Subjects, he must enter their respective realms, Sam realizes that he must hunt down and consume the Aspects who stole Queen Quinta's power.

Sam teams up with Junon's squad to locate the Aspects, as he comes closer to fulfilling the prophecy that dictates his fate in the final battle.

Chapter 1

"You can stay here for the time being. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, is in the mess hall." I showed Amber her room that Calliope and Kyrael arranged for her. Amber was still silent, her face blank.

She entered the room and sat on the bed.

I sat next to her. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes, but I know you won't be able to fulfill it."
"Amber, a prophecy is meant to happen."

Amber clenched her fists, wrinkling her jeans. "Sam, you never made things easy. Even now."

I didn't know what to say. Everything fell apart for her so fast, so sudden. She lost her family, friends, the people at the refuge. Her boyfriend. Now me, who was all she basically had, was destined to die. Life sucked.

"I'm sorry."

Amber wiped her eyes. "I know you are." She sighed. "I shouldn't be putting this on you, I'm just... I'm exhausted Sam. I just want all this to end. Maybe it's easier to just end it myself."
"Hey, don't think like that."
"I have no one left."
"No one should take their own life, no matter how bad it gets. Amana cares about you, and if you give the people here a chance, so will they. Your life is too precious to be given up on."
"I want to be alone... I'm, I just need some space. Sorry."

I left Amber alone. Walking back to the main hall then to the Darkstar hideout. Wheeler was at the main computer. It was funny seeing a computer in Corinth; it was so out of place.

"Ayy, little man. How you doing?"
"What's up, Wheeler. How's training?"
"I'm perfecting my stone golems. Lady Calliope and I are comin' up with a real kicker combo right now. Involves making my golems crazy strong and durable."

I glanced at the computer screen, the golems that Wheeler had summoned were wielding golden armour.

"Damn, that's cool" I muttered.
"Right?"

I walked along the courtyard. Ferris filled me in on the details of everybody so far. Jason was still training in the Underworld, and Amana had joined him. Calliope and Ferris were working on a cool combo attack. Lazarus and Trill were working with Paladin Hark to create the Warpgate. Tob, Reya, and Dennis were training together. Junon and her squad were off, having completed their quest for Lazarus. They were chartering the furthest places of Corinth to fight and train. I guess that was where I was heading.

"Sam." A familiar voice appeared. I turned around, greeted by a woman with long flowing green hair. Merrow Rivenlight, my Guardian.

"Hey, Merrow! How was training?"
"Good. I see you achieved another soul-link."

Celestia zipped around Merrow. "Guuurlll! You're still looking pretty after all these years?"
Merrow laughed. "You're not looking too bad yourself, Celeste!"

My eyebrow twitched. Merrow and Celestia went way back. The two girl guardians who had to look after their Paladins. Most Paladins were assigned a Guardian to fill in their weaknesses. The best Guardians, well to us back then anyway, were the beasts. The powerful familiars that made us look badass and cool. When Icarus was assigned Polyth, the Serpent, Jonna and I were so excited to receive ours.

The look on my face when I was assigned Merrow the Mermaid was still memorable even now. She was so annoying. Like the high school popular girl type. Always texting on her phone, paying me no attention. We were an iconic duo. A popular girl forced to work with a nerdy edgelord. Every mission and contract I was assigned was never completed without the two of us getting in some sort of argument.

Merrow changed over the years, maturing and growing into Decen's caretaker. After all those years in the Formation, she didn't really age much, but it was still pretty apparent compared to Merrow in her twenties. Come to think about it, Merrow would technically be in her late forties. Thinking about Merrow that way felt weird.

Merrow caught me smirking. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just thinking about the past."

I updated Merrow on my quest with Amana. How I soul-linked with Celestia, intel on the Achilles Conduits, and how we could have Junon use her powers to locate the Aspects who stole Quinta's power somehow. The objective was to absorb these Aspects, so I could become a conduit to the other three realms. I would then transport myself into each realm and hopefully find the Subjects, convincing them to join our cause.

Merrow smoothed her frizzy green hair. "Seems like a good idea. But how sure are you that you can convince the Subjects?"

I looked down. "I... I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead."

Celestia giggled. "Aww, well let's just take it one step at a time. Where's this Junon chick anyway?"

I activated Hunter's Eye. "She's in the Marshes. Along with her squad. I guess that's where we're headed."

Merrow shouldered her backpack. "The Marshes huh. The swamp water there isn't my cup of tea, but wherever is water, I'm at my home turf."

I wasn't too thrilled to see a thirty something year old mermaid swimming in the swamps. The thought of it made me almost gag.

"You were thinking about me at my age swimming in my mermaid form were you." Merrow shot me a dangerous glare.
"No." I said a little too quickly.

Bridget giggled in my mind. This was going to be one hell of a journey.

I told Merrow I would meet her at the gates at sundown. I went to the Inquisition castle, returning to my room to pack. There wasn't much to pack, but having a bag was helpful. I strapped on my fitness gloves and put Wheeler's goggles around my neck. My tank top was shredded from the fight against Lapheth and the survivors. Thankfully, Hannah had supplied me with extra t-shirts. I slipped a random one on. It had a little engraved pun written dead centre.

What do you call a carrot with 4 sides?
A square root

I put on my nano-weave jacket and headed out, but there was one place I needed to stop by first.

"Hey Amber." I knocked on her door, which was open.
Amber was on the bed, staring at old pictures. "Hey." She replied, forcing a smile.

I sat on the other side of the bed. "I'm going to be gone for a while."
"Okay."

I looked down awkwardly and cleared my throat. "Hey, do you want to hear a joke?"
Amber gave me a confused look. "Um.. sure..."

"Have you heard of Murphy's law?"
"Umm, yes. It's if something goes wrong then it can go wrong. Seems pretty cruel if you ask me."

Crap. I didn't realize that before coming up with the joke. Roll with it.

"Yeah. So have you heard of Cole's Law?"
"No. What's that?"
"It's thinly sliced cabbage."

I totally stole that joke, but I hoped Amber had never heard of it. She gave me a blank stare. Held back a laugh. Suddenly Amber busted out laughing. "Oh my god. You're SO corny. Why am I laughing at this."

I laughed too. It was such a stupid joke that I found online.

Amber continued laughing. "The fact that you're wearing that shirt!" I smiled. Seeing her happy, even temporary, it washed over me.

We made eye contact. Amber's smile melted. "Your eyes are... really pretty." She muttered.
"Yeah, it's from the soul link."
"I know."

She brought her knees up to her chin. "Sam... if, say the prophecy was meant for someone else, and you survive this war... would you..."
I raised my eyebrows. "Would I what?"
"Would you stay. With me?"

My heartbeat went up. I looked away. "I... um... well I don't see why not. Erm..."

Amber's eyes went wide. "I mean, like as a friend, you know. Not like I like like you or anything."

I stood up, fumbling with my words. "Yeah, definitely. You know, not like I like, like you or anything. I mean I like you, like as a friend. And stuff." I turned around. "Well, I guess I'm gonna go. Uh. Yeah."
Amber looked away, awkwardly. "Yep. Just friends. See ya."

"Bye." I said quickly, before I walked out and banged my head on the doorframe.

Chapter 2

I flew to the skies of Corinth, my hands and feet leaving behind a trail of black and blue flames, with Merrow behind me riding a water serpent. I remembered chasing her down so long ago, when Jason and I were trying to locate her. The nostalgia.

Celestia initially wanted to fly by my side.
"I'm not going into your disgusting consciousness. I'm flying."

I made her eat her words as she found her tiny fairy wings struggling to keep up with Form 1's speed.

"So, Celestia, what other powers do you have? I know you're a storm spirit, and you're a spatial magic user." I asked her.

Celestia was silent for a few seconds. "I'm an enhancer type."
"What's that mean."

I could sense her rolling her eyes. "It means I enhance people."
"Very funny."

Merrow flew closer to my side. "Enhancement type Guardians give their Paladins a tremendous boost in power. They're capable of unlocking new levels of ability that may be dormant."

I thought for a moment. "Does this mean you could help me unlock my Motion Force connection?"
Celestia shook her head. "It doesn't work like that. It's true that I can amplify your abilities, but Quinta's Energy Realms have their own set of rules. I have limits."

"So what can you enhance?"
Suddenly, my body sparked with purple electricity. Her powers mixing with my black and blue Darkfire, boosting the flame. I shot forward several times faster, like an arrow.

"Oh god, what the hell?!" I crashed through a mountain, leading to tons of rock being dislodged and falling to the ground thousands of feet below.
"You asked, didn't you? I can enhance any ability you currently have. Speed, strength, your flames..."

An idea popped in my head. "So I have my own Kaiju Boost!"
"Kaiju what?"

Sentry's voice boomed in my head. "I see. Your remnant, Jason of Croft was capable of an ability like that. He called upon my power to boost his physical parameters a thousandfold."

"But since I used all of your powers through Darkfire, I wasn't able to do so."

"Now you have Celestia, your combat prowess will improve significantly."
"Aww, you don't need to complement me, big guy."
"I beg your pardon?"

The tension was getting awkward. "Well, that's good to know. So does this drain you in any way?"
"It does, depending on how much I enhance. If I enhance your speed only, it doesn't really affect me. If I enhance your speed and your flames, then yes."

"Still, that's... awesome. I think this'll be great to have alongside Blink!"
"Hmph."

Merrow laughed. "You are getting stronger, Sam. But don't make the same mistakes you made as Decen. The stronger you get, the more reckless you become."
"I know, I know."

We continued flying. "I think I see them." Merrow shouted at me over the wind.

I activated Hunter's Eye, making out six people. Junon, Mavus, Adam, Truman, Veran and Khione. They were fighting some kind of serpent monster, its size so big that I could see it from this distance. Adam was zipping around, leaving behind a trail of cyan electricity trying to protect the people. Judging from the way Junon was using her powers, she was holding back to avoid hurting the bystanders.

"Got a plan, Merrow?"
"I do, let me try to sedate it, you'll distract it. They're doing a good job distracting the monster, but at this rate, they're just letting it cause more damage to the surroundings."

I shot forward, concentrating my flames. The monster was about to make a huge lunge at Junon, but she managed to block it with two large cyan arm constructs. Hunter's Eye picked up cracks beginning to form. This wasn't good. If it broke now, the shockwave would definitely do damage to the surroundings. Junon probably knew that too, because she immediately shouted something to Mavus, who flew to the air in his armour and tried to intercept the lunge as well, but was swatted aside into several buildings.

It was now or never. I began flying downward like an arrow, readying myself with a restrained axe kick. I slammed my foot down on the monster's hide, generated a massive torrent of Darkfire outwards which charred the surroundings, but not completely destroying it. The monster's jaw slammed into the grass, mud, and sludge flying everywhere. I landed on the monster's head, my knee pinning the monster down. I noticed that Merrow had jumped into the water, probably in her mermaid form.

The monster growled, and tried to rise, but I put my hand on its head, superheating it. The monster began to squirm, but I upped the fire, forcing it to stay put. I looked up, and saw Junon staring at me.

"Umm... hi Sam." Junon's face was covered in sludge and dirt. But otherwise, she was fine. Adam, Khione, Truman, and Veran were still trying to evacuate and protect the bystanders.

Suddenly, the monster went slack, its eyeballs rolling back as it fell back into the depths. Merrow emerged from the waters, back in her human form. "Return to the depths, my very confused friend."

Mavus emerged from the rubble, his armour completely scuffed, but otherwise fine. His helmet retracted, revealing his face. "You know, I totally had that."
Junon smirked. "Sure ya did."