The Fallen Ascending 01 -- Rebirth
Under New Management

Easing up gently, so as to not wake up Crystal, I slowly got up and worked my way over to the door that Mongo and Tiffany sat propped up against. “You okay?” I asked quietly.

“I dunno, man.” Mongo shrugged slightly and then hung his head. “Skeet’s dead. So’s Megan. We…”

“Megan’s not dead,” I interrupted. Mongo’s eyes grew wide and he started to rise to his feet, until I placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “She’s lost to us now. There’s nothing you can do to help her,” I told him, gently.

“What do you mean? Lost?” Mongo was much larger than me, and I’m certain much stronger, but all it took was a gentle push to keep him seated.

“Everyone pushed for us to wait too long. The corruption finally conquered her soul and she’s now lost forevermore.” I didn’t even try to soften the blow. After the way I’d been treated, I didn’t feel as if there was any reason to. “She’s the one who opened the doors and allowed the dead in. She’s the one who strengthened and blackened their bones so they’d resist Heartblade’s aura. She’s now lost, with her soul eternally corrupted, never to be free again.”

“If Skeet would’ve helped, I could’ve saved her like I did Tiffany and they’d both be alive now. Now, Skeet is ash and our only option is to either seal or destroy Megan.” Maybe I was being a little too vindictive and mean, but it felt good to simply point out the truth of things.

“How… how do you know? How can you be certain?” Mongo was pale and his voiced trembled shakily.

“Let’s just say I didn’t hear it from a god,” I said, halfway barking a short laugh. “It’s complicated, but I’m certain it’s the truth. David and Megan are corrupted by the evil Jawbreaker Curse which haunts this place.”

“Jawbreaker Curse?” Mongo asked, tears slowly forming in the corner of his eyes.

“The Got-a-chicken-kin-coo-coo-clock-frizzled-sock curse,” I told him, straight-faced and serious. “Does the name really matter? It’s a curse that’ll almost break your jaw when you try and say the name of it, so it’s the Jawbreaker Curse. That’s not important. What’s important is that you listen to what I have to tell you!

“First, David and Megan are lost to the curse. They can’t be cured. We need to either seal them somehow or destroy them; that’s our only two options. Nuh-uh! No interruptions!” It looked as if he wanted to say or ask something, but I stopped him with a wiggle of my finger back and forth in front of his nose.

“Second,” I continued, “they’re going to sacrifice Ghost on the next full moon. Whenever that is. Soon I think, and no, I don’t know which moon it is. I just know it’s happening. How? Because a god didn’t tell me.” Anticipating his questions, I continued on without giving him a chance to ask them.

“Third, there’s some sort of ancient pact regarding this place and the gods. This place is nasty, nasty, nasty – and they can’t do anything about it. There’s an Orb buried somewhere below us which can hold the darkness, and I don’t have a clue where. There’s an altar somewhere below us where Ghost will be sacrificed on, and I don’t have a clue where.

“Basically, we have to replace David and Megan and stop them. Rescue Ghost if she’s not lost to the corruption. Locate an Orb and seal the darkness. All before the sacrifice at the altar occurs. Simple, right?”

Mongo just stared at me blankly and never said a word. I didn’t have an idea what he was thinking, but I figured it’d do him some good to think about things on his own for a while. Silently, I laid back on the floor and gave him time to think.

For a long while, Mongo sat there and never said a word. When he finally looked up, tears still at the edges of his eyes, he quietly asked, “Are you certain? There’s no cure for David? Megan?”

“I don’t think anything is certain in the world,” I told him honestly, “but I’m fairly certain that they’re beyond any cure that we could possibly come up with. It took all I could do to keep you and Tiffany alive when I worked my magic on the two of you, and Tiffany was still herself; still fighting the corruption. David fell under the corruption’s sway several weeks ago now, so I imagine he’s as lost to the darkness as anyone could ever be. Megan…” Slowly I trailed off and then shrugged slightly.

“Even if we could get Megan back, and I could try the same magics once more, there’s no one to try them with. I’m already corrupt, and I’m going to have to work the magic between me and Crystal when she awakens, before I get worse.” I asked him honestly, “Can you imagine Dino doing it? Or Jess?”

For a few moments, Mongo simply stared into space and then shook his head from side to side. “I don’t think either of them would be suitable,” he slowly admitted. “Mif’s a decent enough guy, but I don’t think he has it in him to deal with it. Tiffany isn’t hard to handle, but even with her it’s a struggle to stay in command of my own body sometimes when she’s excited. Her moods put a terrible influence over on me now. In time, I might learn to deal with it better, but it’s hard as heck right now.

“I can’t imagine how difficult it’d be to fight and maintain control, if the other person was actively fighting back with you,” Mongo admitted, looking downcast. “I really don’t think there’s anything we can do to save Megan now. We should’ve took advantage of the chance when we had it, but we didn’t. That’s on us, not you.” Mongo slowly looked up and his big shoulders slumped. He was silent for several moments, before he finally whispered, “I’m sorry,” and dropped his head back down to lay it against Tiffany’s shoulder.

“So what’s next?” Mongo asked, seemingly defeated and giving up his leadership position.

“Shouldn’t you decide that for us?” I asked him, worried about the deep level of depression that he seemed to be giving off at the moment. Perhaps I’d been a little too harsh when I was venting some of my anger and frustration so bluntly.

“Not me. Not ever again.” Mongo was barely whispering and didn’t raise his head at all from where it was drooped up against Tiffany. “I lead six people on a simple task to explore the forest for ruins and report back. One’s died, two have had their souls completely corrupted and possessed by an ancient evil, and another has been kidnapped and whisked off to who knows where, to be sacrificed at the full moon. The only reason any of us are still alive is because you barreled in here like a madman and saved us; otherwise I’d be dead and Tiffany would’ve joined the list of corrupted.

“I’m never leading anything or anyone, anywhere for anything, ever again,” Mongo moaned, defeat heavy in his voice. “We’ll just sit here till we rot and join the dead, if you expect me to lead. I’m not doing it ever again. Never!”

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever even imagined that I’d hear such absolute dejection and defeat in a person’s voice in my lifetime. Mongo might be alive, but he was a broken man. His guilt, the loss of his friends -- and their souls – was more than he could bear. Mongo was broken; perhaps never to be whole again.

Looking around, I couldn’t imagine anyone else taking over and leading us. Sighing, I trudged over to where Crystal slept and rested myself beside her. I’m pretty certain Dino might not like it, but it seems like the burden’s mine now to try and get us out of here, replace the orb, rescue the girl, and stop some ancient evil from being released upon the land – all while having my own soul tainted and my judgement compromised.

Honestly, I could understand where Mongo was coming from perfectly. The weight of responsibility was almost overwhelming. If there would’ve been anyone else around the least bit capable, I’d pass the job off to them in a heartbeat. Crystal wasn’t suitable as she’d listen to me whenever I offered any sort of ‘suggestion’. The two healers weren’t built for leadership positions and didn’t have the personality for it. Mongo was broken, and Dino was…

No need to even finish that thought. Dino was simply Dino, and not someone I’d trust to even lead me to replace my sock drawer in the middle of the night. The idea of him leading in such a high pressure, high stake situation as we were in now? My brain couldn’t even conceive it. For better or worse, I was stuck being to one to have to set our path from here on out.

It’s just a damn shame that I didn’t have a clue about what to do next!