The Aspiring Archivist

TAAron looked a bit surprised. "I... I'm not sure. I haven't been completely informed on what's happening yet. I know that there's Kaos, I know that people are getting corrupted. But what exactly does that mean? And what's with all the skeletons?" "What? What happened?"

Clinic: Hallway Shark eventually came upon Lerac, standing in his blaze of strange, greyish fire, eyes glowing with the same light. The fire, oddly, seemed to give off waves of cold. @That1Cellist

Clinic: Hallway Lerac sat right where he was for a long while. It that time, he cried more than he had in his entire life. He didn't really know what happened, only that he had lost the only person who had ever truly cared about him. The tears were hot and angry, flowing from frustration at his inability to do anything. Suddenly, the heat was replaced by cold. An all-encompassing, terrible cold. It wasn't his own. He had known that cold a few times before. Once, when his healing had touched a dead man. And then, each time... Death. Lerac leapt to his feet, spinning around, wiping away tears. No cloaked figure was to be found, yet still the feeling persisted. Finally, his eyes locked on something on the ground. A simple dagger, much like the ones he had trained with for years back in his homeland, lay on the ground. Its handle had a strange appearance of burnt metal, and the blade was a dull, metallic black. It was undoubtedly the source of the cold. Carefully, Lerac reached to pick it up. As soon as his fingers brushed the handle, he felt a painful sting that sent a shock through his whole nervous system, along with another wave of cold. His arm recoiled almost involuntarily, and he shivered. What is this thing? He went for it a second time, swiftly picking it up. The sting came again, stronger, agonizing. He wanted to let go, but found he couldn't. The cold encroached on his mind, and a sense of energy filled him. It wasn't dark or light, or even orderly or chaotic. It was merely forceful, compelling. He felt it running beneath his skin, and through his core. It made his eyes burn with a terrifying light. It touched his mind, and he knew it, though he could not explain what it was. It was Death, but it did not seek to kill. It was entropy with respect to order. Then, Lerac screamed. He released his anger, his frustration, his regret. He released the energy, and the hallway around him caught fire with the same eerie light, though it did not burn, not if he didn't want it to. The scream echoed through the Clinic, agonized and unearthly. Only a few people would hear it, those who had a connection to enough power. Then, he stopped, breathing heavily, still holding tightly to the dagger. He stood there in the blaze, waiting. Waiting... @Ranryu @InfiniteInsanity @CalanoCorvus @The Wandering Wizard @Thaidakar the Ghostblood

Lerac kept running after her, tears in his eyes, calling her name. Eventually, he got completely lost. He then crumpled to the floor, sobbing.

Lerac ran after her, heedless of her warning, as fast as he could. "Wynn!"

"What? Kill you? Why?" --- "Okay, take me to him. Can you?" @UnfortunatelyNamed

Tears sprung to his eyes. After a moment, he let her go. "I love you. I think." "Okay. Why does Thaidakar need me?"

He grabbed her with another vine. "No! Wynn, I... I think I..." TAAron glanced at Corey, who was going through one of his fits. "I guess so, but can we do something about him?"

"What's happening? Why are you running?"

"Okay..." "Wha- Wynn!" Lerac shot out a hand, a and a thick vine grew, catching her leg.

"Be on whose side?" The flower began regaining its life, and Lerac stirred.

"I know Kaos. But I cannot speak of him to you. It is... complicated. Do you wish me to reawaken Lerac?"

The form vanished completely under the onslaught. Death sighed. "I forced you to do nothing. You just killed two gods for the sake of one man."

"Lerac has no means to do so." The flower in Wynn's hair began wilting.

"You would have killed him with that trident if the woman Tors hadn't been destroyed first. You threatened Bonum with death if you discovered him to be lying about his identity."

"To collect. Malum is not defeated, and you will soon lose the capacity to do so."

"Well, I have Malum's set of tools for manipulating connections. And the same level of power he did, though it is limited by my own diminished state." There was a sudden wave of cold that came from behind Wynn. Death was there. Lerac fell to the ground.

"What do you mean, for now?" Bonum laughed. "I promise. Is there anything I can do for you all?"

"I..." Lerac shook his head. "Are you okay?" Malum\Bonum looked at the circle for a moment, then stamped down on it with his foot. The whole thing shattered into hundreds of pieces, and he stepped out. "A shame. That crystal is quite rare."

"I am his brother, in a sense, but also his opposite. I will help you where I can... Though I appear constrained." Lerac reentered the infirmary. "Wynn!" He saw the transformed god. "What happened to Malum?"

"Bonum. TAAron's other god. Malum stole a little piece of me and put it into himself to help keep him stabilized. Now you've diminished him enough for me to overtake him, for now. I am quite weak." His smile dropped, changing to an expression of parental concern. "You are in trouble, aren't you?"

"Hello, Wynn. I don't think we've been formally introduced."

Malum sat for a while, shaking slightly. Then, he stood up and looked at Wynn, and smiled jovially. His hair bled to a crimson red.

Malum, slowly, was consumed until he was a cowering form in a storm of shadow.