Part 42: ARC IV: Part 4: House by the Sea.

ARC IV: Part 4: House by the Sea.

Last time... Solik Darmanus, our lovable necromancer friend, was impaled on a spike by Stoic for giving away too much of Stoics backstory too soon. Now The Hand's plan to cast the Forbidden Spell of Rebirth on whoever they intend to revive, has a big problem!



At this point, it's hard to be sure exactly what he was up to. Still... I doubt it was anything good.

There were several grotesque experiments in progress there. In the end, it may be better that he is out of the picture now before it got worse.

The whole thing still doesn't sit well with me...

Me neither! I get sick just thinking about it!

I wish we could have found out more... but sadly we were forced to take action.

Indeed. He attacked you... You had to defend yourself. In any case, thank you for your efforts.

You are welcome. We should probably be on our way now.

Really? You're in a hurry! We still need that commission report!





Good morning, sir. We've just finished their own personal copy of the report. Hopefully you will find it enlightening.

Thank you, Wyre. You've made a big difference.

That was always the plan. We're going to be making more copies available. If you ever need another, just ask.

Great. I suppose now we really can get going.

Indeed. I will contact Gino and tell him to meet us at the carriage.

Farewell, King Bane. Keep fighting the good fight for Rellenia.

I shall do my best. Thank you again for your help.

Hey man, no thanks necessary. It's what we do.


...


And with that, we have control, though there's not much to do in Rellenia now, so...



Good... The sooner we get to Artagel, the better. Getting this report has made me eager to finish Kovak off.

Yep. That and Marin's testimony should go a long way towards convincing the authorities that he belongs in jail.

Hmm...

What's up?

Someone is walking down the path towards us. She looks familiar...



What are you two talking about? I--




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozVfR-XavQ 'Rana's Theme' 'Theme of Laura (Reprise)' from Silent Hill 2.

Bones! I... I didn't expect to see you here.



Cade, that's not necessary.

You... you lived in the room I have now in Port Arianna.

Cade, why are you so edgy all of a sudden?

*sigh* Finley, come on. Let's talk over there. You too, Laurel.



He's my best friend. Still... I did not want to at first. He goaded it out of me. Not that I don't trust him... It's just all very embarassing.

Bones... I'm sorry for what happened.

I'll bet. What are you doing in these parts anyway?

A bunch of things... But for now I'm just picking some... some flowers.

Vague... like usual.



Don't even think about it. I'm not as furious now as I was then, but that doesn't mean I want anything to do with you.
You manipulated me, and I don't take kindly to that.

But... but you don't understand--

Enough. I am tired of people telling me what I do not understand. I've lived for a thousand years, for Arcadius's sake!
I understand plenty.

A thousand years? But that's...



Gah, keep it down!


The point is, you assume that I am ignorant to some great truth that must lie in necromancy. I am not. I have seen plenty of it, and I want nothing to do with necromancers or their apprentives. Do you understand?

Bones, please! I don't want to hurt you! I really do care for you... I thought... I thought it was what you wanted.

Rana...

I don't need to hear any more! *sob* I'm sorry I upset you so much...







No need to feel guilty, Bones. You were more civil than you had to be.

I'm not feeling guilty.

*chuckle* You can't fool me.

No... I guess I can't.

Lousy scheming no good...





Nothing. You all set?

Ready when you are.

To Artagel, then.


...



The Hand's theme is playing here, as is typical for scenes with Ketsu.

Indeed. The people of Artagel have been very receptive to what Equipment King can offer them.
We expect to open the new store within days.

Good... That will put my mind at ease during our travels.



Yes. I will be going on a pilgrimage with several of my associates to lands far east of here... towards Guardia.
The isle where the Altar of the Abyss was just a few miles from Guardia, if you recall... Hopefully it will be a waste of a trip without his hired necromancer, though.

I see... What brought this on?

Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Don. These are other Hand matters with no connection to Equipment King.

Fair enough. I should be able to keep things under control in the meantime.

Perhaps, but I have arranged for you to have aid should the need arise.



You will come to me with any problems that normally would have been brought to Master Ketsu's attention.

Unprecedented. You are gaining favor within the organization, it seems.

Perhaps... But the unfortunate fate of my comrade Dican had something to do with it as well.
I still think you have not properly repented for your role in that disaster.
There's a brief silence here...

... Duly noted.

Not now, Danika. Let us keep our wits about us. We have had our troubles, but it is paramount that we keep our thoughts on the future.

Very well.

That settles it. May Arcadius bring you and your subordinates good fortune, Don. We shall see each other again in due time.

Safe travels.
Ketsu and his mysterious attendant get up and go. Danika also gets up, but...



I doubt I can find the time, but I shall make an effort.

I suggest you do.
And she leaves as well.



She is rather... frosty... but I must say this meeting went much better than the last several ones we have had.

That's probably because I was so happy to hear he was leaving.
lol.

Ha ha ha ha!

Come, my friend. Let's find some lunch.


...





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dpQyUl4dXg 'Finley Gets Serious', The 5th's Fight, Naruto OST.



He found us!

What shall we do? We are totally helpless!
Douglas roars too!

That's right! Now surrender!

No way!

Then eat bullets!



The Baron shoots them all off screen, one by one. Then someone approaches from the south and summons a gang of angels...



No way, man! You may be a god of music, but I haven't forgotten the way you threw away my trust! Say goodbye to your holy chicks!
The Baron blasts the angels into... mist?


He runs away.











Silence, fools!





The Baron beats all of them up except for Chard, the one guy he did directly best in a competition of skill, curiously. Chard instead teleports the other three away along with himself.





You should have known better, fiend. Now we shall have our final showdown.

Die!


Sparrow casts a series of spells on The Baron.

Useless! The Baron is invincible!!

No! How can this be?!

Sorry Sparrow, but your luck has run out!
He then rapidly shoots Sparrow a dozen times.













"Make me a woman!"
And then theres a rumbling sound, and...



Calm down there, Finley. The carriage just hit something.

Sparrow again?

For Arcadius's sake... I hope not.

This Sparrow person really frightens you all...

He attacked a carriage another time while we were on it. I don't think it's him this time, though.


...



What happened?

DRIVER: You can get so lost in the scenery out here... I wasn't watching the road. Went right over that rock back there!

Oh dear...

DRIVER: No need to be worryin! I always carry my tools with me. I'll have it fixed in a few hours. In the meantime, you folks might want to find some way to keep yourselves busy!

I suppose.

Where are we, anyway?


Cade begins to walk down that path between the trees there...





For once we control Bones instead of Cade.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31vLh51v-lQ 'Homecoming' - 'The Deep' by Ed Van Fleet

*sigh* Yeah.

The place where a boy became a hero!
Bones looks at Finley and then back at Cade.

I would have preferred different circumstances... but I guess you could say that.
I'm going to walk along the cliffs.





...
Well, let's pry into Cades backstory a bit, shall we?





Both parents gone... and nobody knows where the brother is.

I never knew my parents. But I had other family who watched over me until I became Dasani's student.

He had nobody. Nobody but himself.



I guess his own grave would be fine.

Back out front of the house...



I don't sense anyone... It must be deserted.

This whole place is dead. I don't like it.
We can't go down that way, so let's enter the house.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X130NPh92HM 'Defined by a Mask' 'The Mask of Kemosabe'- Bubba ho-tep OST.

There's nothing else to do!

It has been a long time since anyone was here... but there are still strong feelings here.

You mentioned something like that for Rana's room too... what kind of power is that?

Being able to detect lingering feelings in the air is a fairly advanced aspect of being psychic... so far I can only notice them if they are very powerful.

Given what little Cade has said about his time here, I'm not surprised you sense something, Bud.
We go downstairs first...


Fool! There were legions of rats in that necromancer's hole. Why are you skittish about them now?

I wasn't very happy then either... But in the guise of The Baron, I must not reveal weakness.

This must be where Cade slept. It's a pretty well-furnished basement, aside from the rats.



It looks a bit big for him. Might have been for his brother.



A note?

"Rayne, what did you do with the stash? I thought we were sunk when your mother came down to your room as we were talking about it. I'm still afraid to come back!"
Who wrote this?

A friend of Cade's brother? There's another note in here, look.

"I hid it right in the crops. On the west side, towards the center. Nobody will think to look. there."
What's he talking about?

Not sure... Why didn't he give this note to his friend?

Perhaps he never got the chance...
Now we go to the top floor...



What are you doing? Don't be going through their things! There's no need for that.

I think this place has been deserted long enough so that it doesn't matter if I just take a quick look, B-Man.
"I'm worried about Rayne. I heard him and his friend talking about where to hide their 'stash.' I'm not sure what they're talking about, but they sure got quiet when I came downstairs. Perhaps I am being paranoid, but when I hear people in the village claiming their pockets have been picked, I can't help but assume the worst. Oh Garrett, I wish you were still with us. I don't know what to do on my own... Cade worships Rayne, and I worry he may start to repeat this kind of mischief. I just feel so helpless..."
Pause.
No way, lady. Cade would never do something like that. It looks like there's only one delinquent in that family.

This family dealt with a lot of tragedy, Finley. Some people react to it differently than others.

Close that poor woman's journal and let's go.
Back outside...



Wow! All that money just sitting under these dead crops!

It's not that much.

Not for you, maybe. But for a young kid living in a farmhouse out in a place like this, it's a nice amount. I wonder how much Cade knows about this...


...





You know, Finley... I don't know why I came back here.

Well, you didn't have a choice. Our carriage hit that rock and--

No, that's not what I mean. I could have walked somewhere else.
Why did I want to come back here and see how ... dead everything is? Why did I do this to myself?

You were hoping that your brother had come back here.



... Yeah.

Pretty stupid, isn't it.

I don't think so. I think that you still being able to have hope is a good sign.

But it doesn't make sense! He left years ago... Why would he come back? Worse still, why did I let myself think he would come back?
Why did I set myself up to be disappointed?

Sometimes people just want things that aren't realistic.
I still remember the first time I went to the beach. Big gathering of the Donners. We got there around the middle of the day, I guess.
I spent most of the time building a sand castle. A really big one.



I was so young. I didn't understand how the ocean worked. When the tide came in and destroyed the castle, I was so upset.
I must have cried the whole way home.
He pauses for a moment.
I was so excited while I was building it... I thought I could sell it and make a fortune.

*chuckle* What? You thought you could sell a sand castle?



Ah ha ha ha ha! Maybe it's not too late! Let's rebuild one right now!

Ha ha ha! Yeah! Then we'll find Violet and have Blue Tide Estates give us an estimate on how much it's worth!

Why stop there? Let's talk to Kovak and get it turned into the next Equipment King!

Ha ha ha ha!

Damn, that's funny.

Now I gotta tell you about this crazy dream I had...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeYcNVFGrM 'Auburn's Theme (Quiet)' 'Lithe or Death' The Incredibles OST.


Auburn was leaning against the wall until Danika came in and tried to pass by.

You know I'm here to meet with Kovak. Kindly step aside.





Danika keeps trying to go around Auburn but fails every time. And then she tries even faster. And fails faster.

Get out of my way!

Sorry, but I was specifically told to guard this door. There's a very sensitive discussion going on right now. We have a perfectly comfortable stool over there for you to sit on while you wait.

Why do you trifle with me, wench?

I'm just doing my job, madam.

You work for Kovak. Kovak works for the people I represent. Therefore, you work for me. Now get out of the way.

No... I don't see it that way. Have a seat. It won't kill you to wait a few minutes.









Oh no, Auburns died and gone to hell. RIP.







She does well fighting off the demons though.


Meanwhile she's jumping around in the real world.


...



Yes... They are hardly complicated.

I know. I'm just making sure.

Now if you will excuse me, the sun has already come up outside and I must rest. I shall begin at dusk.

Excellent.

Once your store is complete... Our arrangement has ended. I want to make sure you know that.

We will see.
Andau teleports out just as the door clicks, which in turn startles both Kovak and Vec.



What are you doing in here?!



Vec moves towards Danika, but she uses some kind of spell that makes bands of electricity stop him and she vanishes and reappears behind him instead.

Why are you continually failing to keep me informed on your shenanigans?



Attacking my staff now? You're like a child throwing a tantrum.



Danika begins blasting Kovak with lightning spells (I believe).





It's not real, Vec! Just ignore everything and focus on moving forward!


"trusted allies. If you continue to defy me, I will make things very unpleasant for you and your staff. Are we clear?"
The two trusted allies would be Dican and Torin, of course.

Ugh... Yes.

Good. I expect to see you this afternoon.
She vanishes in a crackle of electricity.



I also regret my failure to prevent this bit of nastiness.

It's okay, friends. Her powers were unprecedented.


It's not so bad. We'll play things her way... for now.

the end