Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grass…, dirt…, the warmth of the sun on my face, these are the things i feel as i come to, groaning some as i start to wake up, slowly sitting up and opening my eyes, wincing a bit at the brightness of the sun, looking around, taking in the sounds of insects, and the gentle wind blowing through the surrounding trees “Wha…, where am i…?” I mutter to myself, sitting up slowly “Trees..?” i start to stand up, looking down at myself, tapping my feet at the ground some, taking my attire, dark black boots, blue jeans, a crimson red shirt, i see a water puddle nearby and start walking over, kneeling down and looking at my reflection, feeling my hair, a soft, light blue and then seeing my eyes “Purple?” I frown some, rubbing my head a bit due to it hurting “How did I get here.., and where is.. here..” i look back to where i first woke up, seeing some items on the ground and i head back, crouching down to take a look “Axe.., sword, pickaxe” i take hold of the shortsword “What kind of place is this” i sigh and gather the rest, looking down at the glowing disk in my hand, feeling an odd type of energy flowing out from it “What's this thing” i hold it up, flipping it some “Later.., right now i need to figure out what's going on around here” i pocket the disk and stand up straight “Now what am i supposed to do with these” i hold the axe and pick in my hands, the shortsword attached to my waist, shrugging i just decide to start walking with them in hand, looking around.

I stop suddenly when i hear footsteps nearby, suddenly spinning around to face them, holding out the axe “Who's there?!” i yell, seeing a man standing there with a bow drawn, noticing the shock on his face “Wait, you're alive?” he mutters “Im sorry, i had assumed you were one of the undead” he says, lowering his weapon “My name is Necroplasmic” he says, putting his bow away in his pocket.

“W-wait how..” i just stare at him “You just put that whole thing in your pocket?” “Yes of course, didn't you know? That's how this world works, are you new?” he asks, crossing his arms in confusion “Thats, one way to put it i guess, i just woke up over there” i nod over to the area of pressed grass where i had woken up “I see.., well come on, we should get you situated somewhere before night falls” he says, starting to walk away, looking back to me “You coming?” he asks, i look around a bit before sighing, looking down and putting the handle of the axe into my pocket, watching in awe as the whole thing fits, sending the pick to join it before nodding “Sure, why not” i say, walking to meet up with him, following along behind him “So, where are we going anyway?” i ask him after a while “You'll see when we get there” he says and i groan “Fiine” i mutter, crossing my arms

We walk for about an hour, before coming across one of the many caves “Sooo, a cave” i ask “Well yeah, there's no housing on the surface, so the caves are all we've got to stay safe here” i frown “That must be annoying” his shoulders slump as i say that “Yeah just a bit” He mutters “If we’re lucky we can find some old cabins in the caves though, so there's that” He adds on, tilting his head some and looking down the cave tunnel “That you JRT?” he says, slowly reaching for his pocket as the sound of shifting rocks grows louder, two solid glowing lights coming into view “Yes'' is all that's said in a monotone, metallic voice as a robot rolls into view “I see that we have a new person joining us” it says, looking at me “Uh, yeah.., hi there, JRT i think he said?” i look to Necroplasmic for confirmation as he nods, before i look back at the bot “Correct, full identification is 109-JRT, Necro however finds it easier to simply refer to me as JRT'' it explains “Cool, that also clears up that question of shortening your name down” i say, looking to Necro, who just shrugs

“So, why exactly do you two stay in a cave?” I ask them “I know you said there's no housing, but, there's trees, why not build even a little shack?” i ask “We can't” Necro says “Nothing to chop wood with” he says, then freezes “Wait, earlier, didnt i see you holding an axe?” he asks me, to which i nod and pull the copper tool from my pocket “Yeah, right here” i say, looking at it, then outside and i start to head to the closest tree “May as well give it a shot” i mutter as i take a swing at the trunk, the two others watching from the cave, wincing as the axehead hits the tree, almost as if expecting something to happen, but all that happens is the head cuts into the wood, i look back to them and smile “Time to get working” i laugh and continue chopping, having only as issue with how many swings it takes before the tree starts to fall down

Necro slowly walks over, curious and excited “Finally, we have wood now!!” he laughs, i smile and start working on chopping the tree up into workable pieces, taking hold of one and, out of curiosity, i move it near my pocket, grinning to myself as the wood gets pulled in “Perfect” i say before continuing to work late into the evening, JRT and Necro protecting me from the slimes that get too close, i stretch some as i look at the horizon “Guess i should stop for now, gonna get hard to see” i say, looking back at the piles of gel lying around, walking to one “Not gonna pick this up?” i ask, Necro turning to see me reaching for a pile and shouts for me to stop, but too late as i grab it, shuddering “Ew…, nope, dont like that” i say, shifting the slimy blob around in my fingers, looking to him “What?” i ask, seeing him just staring at me

“But.., how” he mutters, kneeling down and reaching to touch one, and then i see it, what he was so worried about, pulling his hand back as the pile of gel zaps him, and from the look of it, it hurt a lot, he then looks to me “That's what happens when we try touching something that's against our role, so why is it you can touch this stuff” he thinks some “I mean, it is flammable so, torches, still fits building” he shrugs “Anyway, that stuff’ll make great torches, it'll be nice to have more light than what JRT here can give” he jokes, bumping against the bot, who stays silent, before freezing and looking to me “That feeling.., no no no, not now” Necro mutters, grabbing onto me “We need to get underground, now” he says, pulling me up “What? What's going on?” i ask, he doesnt respond, and i feel it, looking around, the feeling of being watched, a cold feeling as we get back into the cave “What, is that” i mutter, looking around as the sun slowly starts sinking behind the horizon “Ill explain everything once we get away from the surface” he says, freaking out clearly as he pulls me further into the cave, looking around

“This should be enough” he mutters, looking outside now as the sun sets fully, a loud growling can be heard and the leaves and branches can he heard shifting, almost as if something is pushing them around, just outside the cave i can see red droplets falling to the ground, several small floating…, eyes? “Wait what?” i frown, seeing them as they float around, spinning some as they search “Its servants, looking for us, easily killed” Necro says “Unlike their master” he says grimly “Master? Those things serve someone? Who?” i ask, he shakes his head “Not who, What” he states “Part of the elder god, those things serve the Eye” he says, pulling back an arrow and letting it fly out the cave, hitting the ground and suddenly there's a light on the arrow in the ground, something coming closer and i hold back a gasp at the sight

Huge, huge enough and clearly strong enough to push the trees around, blood dripping from the veins coming of the back of it, was a massive eyeball, looking around for, apparently, us “Thats why we stay in caves, that thing comes out every few nights to kill us” Necro explains “The Eye of Cthulhu” he says “I was afraid it would come by so soon, but that also means we’ll have a few days before it comes back, itll be here all night though, so id get comfy” Necro adds before laying down on the stone floor, i say nothing as i sit down, however i never take my eyes off the creature floating just outside the cave, shaking my head “Fine, i wont be able to sleep for a bit, not after that” i stand “Ill head down the way some, see what i can find” i say, swapping the axe for a pickaxe now “I have one of these too after all” i grin, he laughs and waves me off as i nod, sticking a piece of gel on some wood and sliding it quickly over the ground to ignite it before heading deeper into the cave, humming to myself

A few hours go by when i finally decide to take a break, having gathered up plenty of stone and, after seeing i dont get shocked by it, different types of ores, or at least what my pick is able to break. Taking a seat and pocketing the tool, i reach into my pocket, pulling out that disk from before, running my fingers over it, my eyes widen as i feel the energy flowing into me, my surroundings changing as i stand, seeming to resemble that of the night sky, stars everywhere, a large moon sitting behind two girls, of whom i look at in confusion, hearing a voice in my head as i look between them. “Eridani” i mutter, looking at the girl with deep purple hair, then looking to the other girl, with lighter, blue hair “Asphodene” i say, feeling a more, energetic aura from her, i continue seeming confused until the voice speaks again “Chose a Starfarer to aid you on your journey” I just stare at the girls again, both more confused and somewhat less, knowing now what they are called, but not what a starfarer is, i shake my head some and look to Eridani “Eridani, Umbral Starfarer, that is my choice” i say, my voice definitely not showing how nervous i was, after everything that's happened today

I stumble back some as I feel the Umbral energy flowing into me through the disk, almost dropping it, my mind feeling different as well. I look down at the disk as I feel the energy change, the object pulsing with some sort of power and I hold it up again “H-Hello?” I mutter, my eyes widening as I hear a girl's voice come through the disk “Hello, It's nice to meet you. My name is Eridani.. A Starfarer. You, in turn, are my Starbearer. Through this contract, we must work together to bring justice to those willing to harm this world, and, if things proceed well, the worlds beyond, as well. If you are willing, I can give a description of what I can provide you with. Personally, I recommend it, knowledge is power, after all.” I look ahead of me, seeing a faintly transparent silhouette of the girl in front of me as she speaks, waiting for my answer, i hesitate before nodding “Yes.., Yes i'd like the full explanation, please” i say to her, to which she nods and starts to explain

“Right. Let's begin. With the Spatial disk you used” the nods to the item in my hand “You can access the Stellar Array. With the defeat of powerful foes, it will grant you strength. The Spatial Disk has plenty of other uses, but by my hypothesis we dont have access to them yet. Hopefully, as we get stronger, more facets of the Disk will open up to us. Umm.. what next..?” She looks away, thinking before she nods in realization “Right, I can turn latent energy from other worlds into crystalized power, an Essence, if you will. You can turn these Essences into Aspected Weapons” She gives a grin as she finishes up “That should be everything. My strength is yours.., I won't let you down” She says to me before fading away, i just stand there in silence as i take in the information the just gave me, sighing some before starting to head back, putting the disk away and grabbing the other item i felt in my pocket, not having remembered grabbing it, i pull out a bag slowly opening it and i pull out a few items, ones that, had i not already known about the pockets, i would have questioned how they even fit, first up is a much larger sword, which i put away, next a hammer…, also put away, then a staff, made from copper with an amethyst cluster on the end, i hold it out, wondering what it does, trying to do, anything, with it, seeing the end start glowing after a moment just before i feel some energy drain out and a bolt of power shoot out of it, causing me to almost drop the staff “O-Oh.., magic.., right” i mutter in shock, just staring at the item before putting it away as well, pulling out next, a blue crystal star, i turn it some in my hands before seeing cracks start webbing over it and it shatters, turning to dust that surrounds me before fading, getting that same feeling of mental clarity as before, shaking my head and i pull the last item from the bag “What…?”

This final item doesnt appear to even have solid form, just a floating cloud of mist, i can hear faint whispers when I hold it, trying to focus on what they're saying, it takes some time but soon I'm able to make out the words “The tombs of the Dragons stir. My eyes lift to see ancient dust dancing from high ledges. These grand wings… how long has it been since I was a hero worthy of their name? It feels like centuries have passed, yet all I've done is blink. Look upon my works, as they are… Ruined. None would dare seek me out; tread my path. Naught awaits them in this cruel world.” I take a seat now after hearing all that, though i dont understand any of it really, i get the feeling there's more to be heard, just not from this, i pocket the mist and yawn, deciding to head back to the other two for now to get some rest before all the work that need to be done tomorrow

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SO! Sorry for how long its been since my last update, i left a comment on the previous part but i figured id give a better explanation here, so, very shortly after posting that chapter, my workplace flooded, and due to that they made it mandatory for my shift to do overtime to help clean up the mess and get everything caught back up for the time and product lost, during which i had neither the mental nor physical energy to get more of this story written, and then by the time that overtime was no longer needed several things had changed, between me changing what class i preferred to play, previously a melee and now a summoner/magic main, i had to rethink how i wanted to introduce things into the story as i had originally planned to have my character be a melee fighter still, along with that, i realized after reading over my writing a few times, i didnt much care for the writing style i had been doing, having it all clumped together the way it had been ending up being, and so before i return to this, id like to adjust my writing style by writing a couple other stories, come up with a way of writing that makes me happy before i return to this, and lastly, the modlist i had been using before has MASSIVELY changed, mods removed, mods added, updates made, so much has changed with it and has changed up the entire way i play now, so with that said...., PLEASE keep an eye out for more stories from this account, ill be working on another new story sometime in the near future so stay tuned! Till then, enjoy yourselves :)