Chapter Text
A brilliant light engulfed Arathain’s vision as those golden chains tightened around his body. Rat’s shocked face quickly turned to terror as he used his trident to flee the impending disaster. The rat had been warned by him, he hoped that they were able to escape the blast radius.
His daughter cried out for him, he could see her being dragged back by Diansu. His greatest regret was having Lux watch his demise. At least Diansu and Will would be there for her.
As the heat became excruciating and boiled his blood, he began to laugh. It was manic and pained. This really wasn’t where he expected to be taken out. He thought he would at least get a few more decades.
It felt like hours passed before his vision turned white and he could no longer feel. Mere moments stretched until it was over.
Nothing came to the man as he worked to arrange his melted mind. Each thought that passed was slow and foggy. His memories flickered as he reached desperately for them.
His name was Arathain and he was a powerful villain. He loved to cause chaos with his two close friends and daughter. He had practiced the dark arts and changed himself into something that was thought to be extinct. He was an outlier, a survivor, a warlord, an ancient, a father, a lover, and a man.
Even with his eyes open there was only darkness. An endless black all around him. Below him was a black sea that appeared bottomless. Its inky depths not ending within his view.
Golden chains locked around his neck, wrists, and ankles. The product of his long awaited fall. These chains that were once locked onto another were now his to bear.
They were the only light in this void, glowing an ethereal gold. They sank into the bottomless ocean below and disappeared from his sight.
Arathain tugged his arm up and saw that they would move with him. Carefully he pulled himself to his feet. He stood atop the endless sea, and as the waves rolled over him, he realized could not feel the water. He actually couldn’t feel anything but his own emotions, thoughts, and feelings.
Arathain hummed in thought and looked up, to see it. Mouthpiece floated just above the waves with its arms crossed and feet swinging. It smirked with razor sharp teeth as it condensed itself into its true form.
Dark fur covered its body with golden rings where these chains once were secured. It had large pointed ears, razor sharp teeth, and many golden eyes dotting its face and arms. A spaded tail swung from side to side. Its hands and feet were clawed and it clicked them together as it moved closer to him.
Arathain watched the creature before smiling, “What do you plan to do now? You are no longer bound to me as per our contract.”
Mouthpiece watched him in silence before it tilted its head. “I am not entirely sure… I never thought someone like you would die so soon.”
It then grinned wide and spun itself in the air, “I have some ideas though!” Its claws clicked a few times as it visibly recalled its plans, “I will continue to watch over her. Even with the contract now null, I have grown an interest in your daughter. I cannot say I will protect her directly anymore, but I will do what I can.”
Mouthpiece hummed, “I hope to see her follow in your footsteps. You were a powerful creature of chaos. I want to see what she can do with proper guidance.”
Arathain hummed and nodded, he knew that Mouthpiece planned to meddle more than it led on. He trusted it enough to know it would never directly lead to his daughters' harm. The creature was not evil, just a creator of chaos.
“You are my greatest creation. I will never regret my actions or decisions when it comes to you. You are just as much my child as Lux.” Mouthpiece stilled as his words processed in its mind.
Slowly it let itself lower to stand on the water’s surface. It was shorter than him in its true form, coming to his shoulder.
It walked unsteadily towards him until it was looking up into his eyes. There was a swirl of emotions there, its lip trembling a moment later as it growled. Their relationship had always been a complicated one.
Mouthpiece seemed to be thinking on something before it wrapped its arms around him and held tightly. It trembled as he embraced it gently.
They stood like that for a while, holding each other. This was the closest that Mouthpiece would come to outwardly showing love and mourning for him.
“You are an idiot! How could you have let him just defeat you like that!? So easily too! In your own trap!” Arathain began to laugh as Mouthpiece yelled at him in frustration while not letting go.
After Arathain caught his breath, they stepped back from each other. For a while nothing was said and they just let the silence settle.
The creature then turned to look around at the empty void. Arathain followed its gaze as it finally fell into place where he was. He had his guesses. “I did think this was a strange afterlife. I assume you plan to not let me go yet?”
Mouthpiece grinned sharply, “I have plans that I’ll need you for.” A softer look then came to its face, “I plan to one day let you pass on. Just… Not yet.”
The endless void began to morph then. Soft light entered and then shapes formed. At first it was not something he could comprehend. Then it was all too familiar.
The living room with a warm fire forever burning. The couch where Will would fall asleep on Diansu’s chest. The chair where he would sit with a book and watch his daughter play. A set of bookshelves were filled with his notes and theories on the dark arts, summoning rituals, and experiments.
A staircase was against the right wall, he knew if he went up it he would see all of their rooms. Pictures lined the wall along the stairs, each bringing new emotions.
A kitchen with potted plants and working appliances attached at the back. It had a large table with four chairs. An endless forest was outside, while the house sat in a clearing.
Lux’s childhood home, the place he had settled to raise her and let them all take a break from the constant travel and chaos. It had been a place of rest, love, and companionship. A place they all got to grow in, just as much as his daughter did.
Mouthpiece looked around with a smile, “This will be your resting place for now. If you ever need anything then call for me.”
The voidling smiled, “I will. Thank you.” Mouthpiece faded after that and he was left alone.
Arathain noticed the pictures on the wall and approached them. He remembers the stories behind each.
The largest was a selfie taken by a grinning young teen Lux. She was holding the camera out to show off everyone behind her.
They had just been successful in breaking a server’s whitelist barrier and were invading. It was her first time getting to come along during their endeavors. She had been shielded from the main battle and bloodshed, but they let her get a few shots in. A complete and utter victory on their part, and swift annihilation of their enemy.
He had been known as The Spider Lily, a name given to him by his wife. Everyday he misses her…
Behind Lux was a much younger softer Will, a cackling Diansu, and his own cloaked form. They were falling from the sky, waiting for the right moment to initiate their landing gear and open the portals to let their forces in.
Only those within his group knew of his true past. The others suspected him of being something of a villain but he was much more than that. He was an ancient sorcerer of the dark arts and a warlord that commanded a powerful and loyal group of warriors.
They would invade servers that neglected safety protocols and wipe out the inhabitants. Anyone who was deemed strong was given the choice to join them, securing protection for themselves and their families. Not all took the offer but many did. He hopes they are all living happily now with their families.
He always believed he would meet his end on one of those battlefields, surrounded by explosions, screams, and death. Here he was now, having been taken out by his own trap.
Rat was an outlier, someone he had not expected. He had come here to use the server’s gimmick as a way to ‘invent’ illegal weapons, the Charter Weapons.
Arathain had never met his match in anything, so he assumed as always that they would be uncontested here. He messed with the spawnrates during the server’s creations and had Mouthpiece enhance his Charter research. Everything had been going perfectly to plan.
Then Rat came forward, he had discovered his trickery and was ready to wage war. Arathain expected a quick victory on his side, a short but fun conflict before he would take his artifacts and weapons with him and leave this server. He would be truly unstoppable, a force to become legend.
It was on that bridge, when he looked Rat in the eyes, with Clown just behind him, that he came to understand. Rat was a force of chaos like him, something that could be his equal. It was during his last moments that he came to grin because… He wasn’t alone in this pursuit of power with chaos.
The man could not come to hate Rat. He only wished that maybe they could have become friends…
Arathian wandered the house, looking in at each of the rooms. They were just as he remembered them. Lux’s room even had her drawing supplies laid out across the floor.
He went in and sat at her bed.
The room had soft blue walls with animals painted on the lower half. Diansu always encouraged Lux’s need to create. The synth had painted her room blue like the sky and said she should now add her own brilliance.
Each painting added to these walls grew more alive, more refined, and more loved. Lux’s creativity as an artist was amazing to behold. Diansu was an inventor, so he was always her idol.
His daughter once painted him standing above the battlefield, back lit up by the sunrise. His hands outstretched before him as he chanted the next devastating spell towards his enemies.
He kept that painting above his desk.
As he entered that old office he saw it there.
So this really was a replica of their old home. It still existed on that server, hidden away from the prying eyes of those in power. A place of refuge where he also allowed his old group to settle down without fear of repercussion from observers.
This place held memories, many he would need to explore as the wistfulness wore off and he moved to come to full terms with his end.
This was his final chapter and he can move on with that. Heh, life really was an unpredictable adventure.
The fire was still crackling but he could not feel its warmth. Afterall, this was all only an illusion to keep him comfortable in this prison.
A sigh escaped him as he sat down in his old chair. His hands gripped the arms and he stretched his legs out. Here he would rest, here he would think, here he would wait until he was allowed to pass on to his final resting place.