{Chapter 2}
“Eric, you become quotable from life experience. See and do shit if you want to say shit.”
Dapper Skellington (Militia Man) [05/28/2017]

White.

Blinding white.

Pain.

Burning pain.

“Where am I?” A bloodied blue and grey unicorn stallion asked. Looking around a environment of… white as far as the eye can see.

Clutching his chest, were an open wound lay, bleeding profusely. He walked forward, not quite sure where he was going.

“Hello? Is anypony there?” He cried out, but in the end, it was futile.

From the edges of his… world, he noticed some sort of darkness, slowly creeping forward. The white seemed duller now, and now, he saw that it seemed to be a tunnel of sorts. The only directions being available to him being forward and back.

With a lack of a better option, he pressed forward. His memory seemed fuzzy, he could barely remember who he was. His name seemed… lost. Yet, he could remember a… being, a shadow that caused pain to him… blinding pain.

The landscape seemed to get smaller, the shadows grew, if only just. Yet, every time he glanced at them, they pulled back. Were they afraid? Or were they never there in the first place?

Banishing those thoughts, he pushed forward. Unsure of why, only feeling a sense of… urgency, not quite panic, but still enough to keep him moving.

Was this reality? It seemed too real, yet he could remember, if only faintly, a different existence. One were, he meant something. An existence of... pain. With a… break near the end. A time, of… urgency, and reason. A time, without pain.

But, still a time with the… shadow.

‘What is it? Why can’t I remember?’

These questions plagued the his mind as he walked... And walked…

Minutes stretched into hours, hours into days. Yet, he never grew weary, time seemed be quite fickle in this place. Ever changing, ever evolving, ever… stretching…

One hoof in front of the the other.

Walking…

Walking…

The shadows ever stretching, ever growing. Becoming more… Bold… more resilient to his gaze. Until a world the size of a hoofball field was little more than a narrow corridor.

Yet he kept walking.

Walking…

Walking…

He started to remember more, yet even his name remained a mystery.

His only purpose seemed to be walking…

Ever onwards…

Away from the darkness…

From the unknown…

Doubt…

Was there a reason?

To why he walked?

Maybe.

The darkness was close.

So close…

Too close…

Whispers emanated from them. Promises of… love… of power… of freedom…

Tempting…

Oh so tempting…

Yet not tempting enough. He kept walking. With each step, another part of himself seemed a fade away.

Soon…

He was little more than a… thing… running away from the darkness.

Shapeless…

Formless…

Nameless…

Soon…

He cannot think too long…

He felt slower…

Dumber…

Pain…

The only constant in this wasteland of endless dark.

Fear…

Growing… festering…

Burning away hope…

Only walking remained…

Pain…

Pain…

Pain…

Pain!

There is only darkness…

No light…

He was gone…

He became It.

It has nothing left…

Only walking…

And pain…

And yet, It is losing momentum…

What was a canter...

Changed to a trot…

To a crawl…

Almost stopped…

Dragging It’s formless mass onward…

It cannot continue…

It…

Gives…

Up….

And is consumed by the darkness… Now nothing is left…. Barely a memory….

Slowing burning up.

Darkness… growing, festering, groaning…

A small spark, drifting through the endless void, slowly dissolving. Ever so slowly…

‘No…’

Not strong enough to withstand the void…

‘No…’

Too weak… Too frail….

‘No…’

But yet… it stubbornly holds onto life. If only just.

‘NO!’

A flash of bright white, banishing the darkness to the edges of this plane. The spark, growing, maturing… Changing.

The light hasn’t left this world. Not yet at least.

‘Beep’

‘Beep’

Pain. Once again the blue furred stallion returned to this world.
Opening his eyes, he is greeted with the sight of a hospital room. That, unlike the one in Brismane, seemed to be quite well equipped. To his left, a heart monitor played it’s seemingly endless tune.

‘Beep’

Turning his gaze down, his chest lay covered in bandages, with blood lightly staining them. Deep within them, the pain, burning relentlessly sat, not quite dormant.

‘Beep’

To his right, Arcane noticed a sleeping form. Not one of shadows, but one of green. A pegasus, in fact.

‘Beep’

Yet, the hospitalized unicorn felt a great sense of unease. The figure… it wants to finish the job. He could feel the hatred burning from it, even though his fuzzy memories. He should run, yet he cannot. He is restrained to this Celestia-Forsaken bed, and he wouldn’t be able to fight it if it came back…

‘Beep’

Fear, like a cornered animal. He raked the room for something, anything, that could help free him.
In his panicked state, Arcane didn’t notice his brother awakening.

‘Beep, beep’

He didn’t notice when Steel started talking to him.

‘Beep, beep, beep’

He didn't notice the doctors coming in.

‘BeepBeepBeepBeep’

He didn’t notice them putting him under.

Interviewer: State your name, rank, and post.

S.Q: Steel Quill, Corporal, Brismane.

I: Where were you at --:-- AM, on ----/----/----?

S.Q: I had cashed in my shore leave to welcome my brother back to town. It-

I: On file, it states that you were using it to visit your bedridden mother. Is that correct?

S.Q: Yes, my brother came down from Canterlot to do the same. So, I decided to go with him. I ha-

I: You said you went with him, yet on your report, he was alone when he was attacked. Please explain.

S.Q: After meeting up with him, we went to my Mother’s house. He asked for me to wait outside, something about him needing a moment.

I: At what time did you know something was wrong?

S.Q: About five minutes after he went in, I went in after him. As I was going through the house, most of the candles were quite low, casting the whole place in into shadows. I was concerned at the time, but, it wouldn’t be the first time Mum forgot to restock em’.

I: Yes, go on.

S.Q: After a bit, I heard a shout, and a thud… once I got to Arcane… the attacker had… offed himself.

I: Do you know who the attacker was? I know that on your report you avoided the question.

S.Q: He… H-he was my father.

I: Ah… I’ll give you a moment.

S.Q: A-alright, I’m good.

I: Mmmmm, now, who is your brother?

S.Q: He’s Arcan-

I: Not like that, I mean, his personality, when was the last time you saw him, etc.

S.Q: Ah. The last time I saw him was about seven years ago… Him and Dad never saw eye to eye. I was quite young, so I’m not sure what was happening in the background but, after one of their… worse, arguments. Arcane just… got up and left. In the dead of night, and well… I didn’t see him again.

I: Did they have these arguments often?

S.Q: Yes, almost daily. Thankfully, after the divorce, we only saw him twice every fortnight. But even then… It wasn’t uncommon for him to come home with marks.

I: If there were marks, wouldn’t Ms. Quill have done something?

S.Q: It wasn’t that type of mark… The body heals quickly, the mind on the other hoof…

I: Mmmmm… What of your mother, any reason why she would be murdered?

S.Q: The report states that she is recovering in hospital.

I: Unfortunately, that is outdated. It has been confirmed that she died only a couple hours ago.

S.Q: I see…

I: We shall continue that at another time. You are dismissed.

The room around the pegasus lain bare. The only item within was a cast iron bench, which he was currently sat upon. Around him, gray walls gave the de-briefing room an eerie feel.

It was only him now, his mother, his father, gone. His brother, never the same.

What was the point? After Arcane gets back on his hooves, he’s still not going to have anywhere to go. ‘I guess nopony wants an employee with PTSD. At least, not when ninety-nine percent of the worker pool is fine.’

Bringing a letter out of his saddle bags, he once again skimmed through it. While it was a lot of words saying very little, the long and the short of it was: Arcane is fired due to suspected mental instability. Unfortunately, when one gets fired from such a highly esteemed position, nopony is going to hire you. So unless you fancy being a garbage handler, you’re going to have a bad time.

“Buck…” He sighed, planting his hooves into his face. If there was ever a time to cry, it was now. After but a few moments, the room was filled with the sound of muffled sobbing.

Time passed, and before he knew it, night had fallen. Brushing off his face, Steel started to make his way over to Canterlot’s resident hospital. Due to it residing in the capital, it was quite well equipped to deal with Arcane’s physical injuries, his psychological ones, on the other hoof, would take quite some time to fade.

As Steel trotted into the waiting room, his thoughts drifted over what he could’ve done.

‘Shouldnt've let him go in on his own… I should’ve known something was up with Dad…’ He sorrowfully mused.

“Dad… I’m not sure I can even call him that.” He hissed, his tone thick with venom. Before he could continue his line of thought, he was brought out of his musings by a voice.

“What was that sir?” Asked the receptionist, slightly confused.

“Nothing, I’m here to see Arcane Quill.” Steel replied, slightly embarrassed that she had overheard his comment.

“Ah, public visiting times are over, so unless you are close family, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m his brother, Steel Quill.”

“Alright, he is in room 125, in the west wing, please be quiet though, he needs his sleep.”

“I will,” he assured, as he began to walk up the stairs.

The whole building seemed to be a sterilized white. Turning a corner? White. Open a door? White. Etc.

‘Urrg, I’m getting sick of white. When I get home, I’m repainting.’ He thought to himself, half-jokingly. He banished these thoughts as he entered room 125.

Laying on the bed, a sleeping form of Arcane Quill sat. The rest of the room was quite bare, aside from a heart monitor, a desk and chair, the bed, and the IV, it was empty. ‘Well, I am the first to visit. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.’

Pulling up the chair, he sat at the foot of the bed. And for the next hour, he sat in silence.

“I guess this is how I’m spending my days off… Heh, wouldn’t have it any other way.” He chuckled, “Well, I’m not sure if you can hear me, but, I’ve gotten a letter from your job.”

With a drawn out sigh, he continued, “They’re letting you go. And, to top it all of, Mum’s gone… buck… a right fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into huh? I’m not sure what I can do, so, tomorrow I’m going to pack up your stuff and move it to my house. I sorry, I just can’t afford the rent on your place. And, now, you can’t either…”

Resting his head on the bed, he gazed into the nothingness that is neither here, nor there.

“No rest for the wicked, I guess…” and with this final comment, he drifted to sleep alongside his big brother.

’Beep, Beep!’

Steel was ripped out of his dreams by the sound of the heart monitor (metaphorically) losing its shit.

“Mmmehhh? Whaddo ya’ want?” Steel sleepily asked, just a little irritated at being woken up. Raising his head, he noticed Arcane’s eyes were reduced to pin pricks. “You alright?”

Arcane’s eye flashed around the room, searching for… something. His horn giving a few faint frizzles around the inhibitor ring, thankfully, the straps holding him down stayed strong. For a split second, Steel swore he could see some sort of bluish mist leaking from his brother’s eyes. But, as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared.

’BeepBeepBeep!’

‘I think I know what they mean by ‘waking up distressed’ now...’ Putting a hoof on Arcane’s torso, Steel tried to calm the panicking stallion. “Come on, it’s alright. You’re in the hospital, try to calm down.”

Before he could do much more, a doctor rushed in through the door and pulled Steel off to the side.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to leave. We can handle this.” The mare said, as another doctor came in with a needle filled with some sort of sedative.

“A-alright. I’ll be in the waiting room.” Steel sighed, before making his way out the door.

’Arrrg… I feel so useless… there must be something I could do… I'd be happy with anything at this point!’

He paused, seemingly waiting for something.

’Huh… I was hoping that would work. Heh, I guess I'll have to do it the hard way.’

[colour=#6aaabb]“That you will…”[/colour] A voice muttered, it sounded ‘wispy’, and it seemed to be double layered.

“Wha-!? Who's there?!” Steel cried out, glancing about the seemingly empty hallway.

The raked his eyes, for whatever had been talking. He was unable to find anypony, but he noticed a faint blue mist of sorts. It seemed to… draw his eyes away. It was so… normal. Painfully so.

After he glanced away, Steel seemed to have forgotten something… something out of place… something… unimportant.

Banishing his unimportant thoughts, he continued onwards. And he could almost hear a faint sigh… it tasted blue for some reason.

’Drip…’

The same memory…

’Drip…’

Over, and over… Never ending…

’Drip…’

He couldn’t bare to look…

’Drip...’

But he couldn’t look away…

’Drip...’

Maybe this will be the last time…

’Drip...’

Maybe not…

’Drip...’

The pain… it’s unbearable…

’Drip...’

‘Why won’t it stop? Why won’t He leave me alone?’

’Drip...’

These thoughts… they wouldn’t leave him…

’Drip...’

It was just like it happened. The wooden walls… Him standing above Arcane with a cruel smile…

’Drip...’

But this time… There isn’t any darkness to save him… it was all too vivid.

’Drip...’

And the blood… it was everywhere… the carpet… you couldn’t even see it anymore.

’Drip...’

Arcane was right next to the Pegasus… it looked awfully familiar. Almost like his Mum… but that would be crazy… his Mum is fine… Right?

’Drip...’

He couldn’t feel anything except the pain…

’Drip...’

“P-please… ki-kill m-meee... “ Arcane pleaded through the blinding pain.

’Drip...’

He received no response.

’Drip...’

The pain slowly started receding. And the world started to lose its focus.

’Thud!’

The first couple hours were painful, but that is just normal waking up. After that, Arcane was aware enough to call for a nurse.

’Hopefully this won’t be too painful of a discussion…’ he thought as the door swung open.

A mare came in, her fur a light brown, and her mane a sweet hazel. With the normal nurse get up, see was quite a sight, even without a horn or wings, and she seemed quite surprised that the unicorn was awake.

“Did you need something, sir?” She asked sweetly,

“Uhhh, yes, umm, I was wondering how long I was out? And if I could get the newspaper.” Arcane replied, stumbling over his words just a little.

“Ah, You were out for a couple days. I’ll get a paper, give me a moment please.”

“S-sure…” Arcane stammered, shocked with how long he was asleep for.

The nurse left with a little bit of a hurry, Arcane wasn’t sure why, but hay, it didn’t concern him. Gazing around the room, he notice a few things that he missed when he was… panicking. First and foremost, he had a nullifying ring around his horn.
‘Ummm… alright? I guess I was having some pretty bad fits…’ drifting down his body, he noticed that his necklace was missing, ‘T-that’s fine… they’ll have just taken it off for examinations, yeah, that’s it. W-we’re all good, e-everything is fine…’

It had only taken a minute at most, but, the nurse returned with the requested newspaper. As she trotted up to Arcane, he could, just, read the main headline.

‘WAR ON THE HORIZONS! PRINCESS LUNA INITIATES A CALL TO ARMS!’ It stated in big, bold letters, under it there seemed to be a picture of a dark princess addressing the masses atop a marble balcony.

“What? Who’s that? Last time I checked, there was only one alicorn.” He asked with a slight bit of humor.

“Mmmm? Oh! you mean Princess Luna.” She replied happily, “She was recently reformed after trying to ‘bring about eternal night’, apparently she’s Celestia’s sister.” She said with a slight smile, “A lot has happened while you were out.”

“I can see that...” Arcane admitted, baffled.

“I’ll leave you to your reading, and, now that you’re up, I’ll get these restraints off you.”

“That would be lovely, thank you.” He was quite happy about not needing to ask, and he was starting to get an itch on the small of his back. ‘Why do these things happen whenever I can’t get to it?’

It was a little bit of a struggle, but soon enough, Arcane was free. Leaving only the horn ring.

“One moment, let me get that for you.” She said, sweetly.

With a quick tap and twist, the ring split in half, Freeing the unicorn’s magic. The feeling was quite strange, almost like having the blood flow back into a disconnected limb, yet… different. His blood seemed to… sizzle and tingle. Almost like somepony had filled it with pop rocks.

“Thanks for that, but I’ve got a question. When I was… attacked, I had a necklace on. Do you know what happened to it?” He asked as he tested his magic on the newspaper, lifting it up and down.

“You were quite lucky to have had that on, it had slowed the knife down enough to have saved you. Without it, you’d probably be six feet under.” Arcane’s magic cut out.

“S-so, it’s…”

“Destroyed, I’m not quite sure what happened to it, but it’s gone.” He began to feel a hole in his heart, growing ever so slowly.

“B-but it was part metal, h-how…”

“I’m not quite sure myself, but… let’s just say the knife was heavy duty. Enchantments and all.” It was gone, wasn’t it? The last gift of his mother.

“A-ah… Ummm… A-alright. That’s fine…”

“Alright sir, I need to get back to work, but I’ll only be a call away.”

“S-sure…” he stammered, his eyes unfocused.

‘Come on Arcane! Pull yourself together! It’s not like Mum’s dead or anything. It’s just a trinket, it is worth less than your life.’ He mentally scolded himself. ‘-Sigh-I can still remember when I got it…’

This was it, the straw that broke the camel's back. Outside a familiar cabin, a blue furred stallion had gathered his meager belongings into his saddlebags. A book and quill, ink, parchment, and what little bits he had.

‘Enough for a train ride, maybe enough for a hotel room…’ It wasn’t much, by anyone’s standards, but Arcane would make do. Steeling his resolve, he started down the path, he couldn’t go back, he was disowned. He wasn’t sure why he was, but, it is what it is. ‘I guess it was one disappointment too many… Maybe I forgot to do something? Or was I too submissive? Nah, dad’s ego is too big for that to be a problem.’

The unicorn was unsure of his feelings about the subject. On one hoof, he was sad, he’ll most likely never see his parents ever again. Well, only if his Father had any say on it. Arcane couldn’t even remember when he had seen his Father happy, it was always… disappointment, or anger… sometimes both. On the other hoof, he’ll never have to deal with Mr Quill.

That was who he was. Arcane couldn’t even remember what his name was, he was always ‘Sir’, or ‘Mr Quill’. Never ‘Dad’, or ‘Father’. The last time Arcane called him that, he couldn’t sit down for a month…

‘I must just be a mistake for him…’ Arcane sighed, ‘Steel though… he was always perfect… following in Mr Quill’s hoofsteps. Athletic… strong… not me…’

The blue stallion felt like he should be… envious, angry, or… something. But… he couldn’t. His brother was always good to him, slipping spare food to him when he was being ‘punished’.

‘Damn… I’m going to miss him…’

After a few minutes of trotting, the resident mailmare caught up with him.

“A package for an Arcane Quill!” She called out, grabbing the stallion’s attention.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He replied, unsure on why he was getting mail. ‘And today of all days…’

“Here you go, priority shipment.” She said, passing a small brown envelope.

“Ummm… thanks?” He offered, but, the mailmare was already gone. Turning his attention to the envelope, he noticed it was from his Mother. It was a small thing, but Arcane could make out a decently large bulge near one of the corners.

Opening it, he pulled out a note and a necklace. The note was brief, but heartwarming.

‘To my lovely foal,

May you hold this close to your heart, and remember that I have never left you.

Love,
Swift Quill

The necklace was double sided, on one side, an iron wolf stood proud, and the other, a wise wooden owl. It was well made, with a brass border surrounding it, and some small carvings around it. Arcane could almost feel a… spiritual connection to it. It made him feel… safe, loved, and most of all… happy. Not quite enough to make him happy about being disowned, but at least it made him feel a little better about it.

Grabbing the light brown chain, he lifted it over his head with a faint smile. After a moment to admire it, he continued on with his trek, the gravel path to the train ‘station’, slowly but surely getting closer.

He was so focused he didn’t notice a blue mist rising from the necklace…

[colour=#6aaabb]“Come on… look away from the window…”[/colour]

The blue mist floated outside the window, shapeless… formless… yet unnoticed. It seemed to have a goal, a sense of urgency. But, it is really there? If something is unnoticed by all, does it exist? If it doesn’t know where it came from, if it doesn’t know if it exists, how can anyone else know?

These are the questions of it’s ever existence. With only a goal, nothing more, it happens. Is it real? Not quite, does it exist? Maybe. What is its goal? Unknown, with only a ‘pull’ to guide it, it follows its goal.

Why should it follow? Why should it listen to the ‘pull’? These questions are unimportant. Unimportant things are ignored. That is its way of life.

The mist shudders, [colour=#6aaabb]“Focus! I can’t fall into that… trap, again. I exist! And I choose to follow the pull.”[/colour] With new resolve it slid between the cracks of the windowsill.

In the room, it quickly hid into the shadows, it had come too far to fail now. Years upon years of work will come into fruition. [colour=#6aaabb]“But… when I think about it like that…”[/colour]

[colour=#6aaabb]“It seems a bit… evil… am I evil? Is it wrong to follow the pull?”[/colour]

[colour=#6aaabb]”No… I’m just fulfilling my purpose. Right?”[/colour]

‘This is going to be horrid… Buck.’

Standing at the frame of Arcane’s Hospital room, a pegasus stallion stood, trying to work up the courage to talk to his older brother. After a letter informing him of Arcane becoming… stable. Steel had almost literally dropped everything to see him, but at the door he had lost almost all of his resolve.

‘I’m going to have to tell him about mum, won't I?... M’kay… This is going be be absolutely horrible.’ He admitted with a shaky sigh, ‘Alright! Let’s get this over with!’

Before he could think of backing down (Again), he entered the room. The first thing he noticed was that Arcane had gotten free from his restraints and was… Writing a book? When did that happen?

“When did you start writing a book?” Steel asked, disregarding the need of a greeting.

“Awhile ago. But it’s not really a book, it’s more of a research journal.” Arcane replied, barely looking up from his work.

“Riiight. What are you writing about?”

“Pre-discordian magic.”

“And that is?”

With a heavy sigh, Arcane explained. “You know, Runes.”

After noticing his brother’s blank expression he continued, “The more reliable and permanent version of enchantments? That magic that everypony can use? Even dumbasses like you?”

“H-hey!” Steel stammered,

“I’m kidding. You wouldn’t be able to use it.” Arcane replied, earning a glare from the pegasus. Silence reigned for but a moment before the brothers burst out laughing.

“Ah, I’ve missed you.” Steel stated as he lifted his hoof for a brohoof.

“And I, you.” Arcane replied as he bumped his hoof on Steel’s. “Though, I expected Mum to see me first.”

“Y-yeah…” Steel agreed with a nervous chuckle.

“What? Did something happen?” He asked, with what little naïvety he had left.

“Y-yeah, ummm, Mum was… with you, when… y-you-know-what happened… A-and she…” Steel’s voice cracked, and fell away like old porcelain. He took a shaken breath.

“She...didn’t make it…”

Steel could almost hear Arcane’s world shattering. He could almost feel the icy grip of despair around Arcane’s heart. Almost…

The air seemed to drop a few degrees, and Arcane’s magical aura seemed to crackle with energy, only just held at bay. Rage emanated from his diplomatically neutral expression.

The unicorn slammed his book shut and magicked his writing instruments onto the table, raising from his bed, he slowing made his way over to the window.

“I need some time to think.” Arcane stated plainly, “Alone.”

“A-alright, I’ll go…” Steel stammered, unsure of why his brother was so… cold all of a sudden. Walking out, he closed the door and made his way down the corridor.

“I hate it when I’m right…”

Arcane’s thoughts were a mess, some were of anger, others, of depression. Year upon years of missed memories, lost. Years of love and companionship, destroyed. All because of Him.

He just couldn’t let Arcane be happy. He wouldn’t leave Arcane alone. Even in death, He still haunts him.

Outside the window, ponies enjoyed their lives. Oblivious to the blue stallion’s troubles. The stallion with a list of troubles that would make put a purple-smart to shame. Be it his… interesting demeanor, his mood issues, his inherited depression, or his tact.

Turning to his suitcase, he levitated a small packet. Inside, a gift from his brother laid, waiting. The golden liquid that burned eternally. The liquid that either took up all of his thoughts, or would never cross his mind.

Alone, it bugged him, it called to him.

But, when he was with Steel, it was silent.

‘Strange… very strange…’ Arcane thought to himself, turning it over in his magical grip. The temptation to down it all… it was strong, almost like it was pulling him towards it. The air around it seemed to almost shimmer. Whether that was a good thing or not was yet to be seen, but it was a distraction, and that is what Arcane needed. Something to keep his mind away from… Him.

Pulling his book to him, he scanned through it.

‘Protection? No… light? That wouldn’t work… mending? Why would I need that? Mmmm…. What about this?’

With an engraving kit from his suitcase, Arcane carved a… thing on the glass container surrounding the liquid. To the uneducated, it looked like a mess of lines around a dot.

‘That’ll do it. Now let’s see…’ Moving back, he drew a few more lines and dots on a piece of parchment.

Placing the liquid at the exposed dot, the lines on both the parchment and the glass glowed a brilliant blue. To a point where it was painful to look at, “Oh shit! That’s not good!”

Jumping back, Arcane ran to the door, with the book trailing behind him. “BuckBuckBuckBuckBuckBuck! NOOOPE!”

Jumping out the door and slamming it behind him, Arcane’s vision was filled with a bright white light.

“Pffftt….” The runes fizzled out.

“Well… That was anti-climatic...” He said, half disappointed that it didn’t explode or something.

”BOOM!” The door was pulled off it’s hinges as it was blasted down the hall, almost taking out a terrified nurse. The sounds of crackling flames emanated from the room, as smoke billowed out of the frame the door had (previously) occupied.

“Shit. There goes…” Pausing to do the calculations, Arcane sighed. “All of my savings.”

Author's Notes:

{Update: Got some minor edits done.}
{Update Update: Got even more edits done. Fixed some formatting issues.}
{Update (Again): Fixed the links.}
Well. Here it is.
I told you it would be longer,
And now, we've got some plot development, hehehehehe.
This is gonna be fun.

EDIT: Sooo... there was going to be some images of the runes, but I seem to be having issues with uploading them. So if you want to see em' PM me and I'll see what I can do.

Weapons' EN: I was half right, so there's that. This chapter hit a little close to home for me, considering my military background, but I'd say it turned out really well. I hope you all are enjoying this adventure as much as we are.