Post by Nathan Saniti on May 18, 2016 20:18:14 GMT -5
The Seeds of Life - Chapter Two
Nathan unlatched the door to his beloved Witzend, opening it cautiously. Peeking through the frame, the oddball spiraling hallway was Nowhere in sight. Nor was it Anywhere to be seen. Since neither Nowhere and Anywhere were within eyeshot of the door, he stepped through. Even the portal leading to the mysterious new land with the moniker of "Absinthe" was apparently either in its rightful place, or simply hiding out to jump in front of him once again. New worlds were such attention seekers.
"What in heaven is going on?" thought the Mad Magician, pondering his seemingly unending string of powerful foes cropping up like weeds in a garden.
First, there was Phinehas "Grimm" Dillinger. Grimm apparently had a long burning hatred for Nathan, perhaps due to his part in the bringing the plans of the Black Hand low. It could also be due to Phinehas' brother William having apparently disappearing just after losing the World Heavyweight Championship. More likely though, it was simply a primary part of Grimm's nature to hate. Fortunately for Nathan, at least currently, the Lord of Misrule had decided to occupy himself with regaining the World Title for himself from what Grimm seem to consider a fluke champion.
Nathan's own involvement in the Icemann Invitational Tournament felt rife with foes new and old. He was facing the "Fabulous One" Dan Fierce in the Semi-Finals. This man was as skilled as he was flamboyant, age be damned. Even if Nathan managed to get through to the finals, he still had the possibility of facing either a very worthy and rising Judge, a man whom blamed Nathan for his brother's fatal heart attack, or an astonishingly capable Brenna Gordon. The aforementioned woman was the only person who seemed to not have a grudge against Nathan. Yet.
Also recently, the man-monster known as Murdoc made his return at the Last Chance Battle Royal, steamrolled every competitor involved, and was handpicked as Nathan's foe for the Quarter Finals. Nathan had, at one time in the not-so-distant past, been teamed with Murdoc's significant other, Eira, in a match that ultimately led to the poor woman's miscarriage of their child. Murdoc had blamed Nathan for their misfortune.
Though he felt the brutish man deserved his pound of flesh, Nathan knew that caving to the monster's baser instincts would get him to the Semi-Finals. Chicanery, it's true, but as the saying goes, all is fair in love and war. This was a competition, a tournament. Nathan couldn't simply allow the savage to brutalize him for the sake of ending a blood debt. That would have to wait for now. There were far more important things that drew his attention.
Eight of them, to be exact.
They started out as twisted, horrific versions of Disney characters. The threats were intriguing, though Nathan had no idea just why he was being targeted. At Trauma 191, the group of cultists, for lack of a more apt description, went beyond threats, crucifying Nathan in the center of the ring and attempting to burn him at the stake. At Trauma 192, they displayed new masks based on the animal kingdom, and promptly made threats to Kelli.
The effigies didn't bother Nathan. The newfound love of Nature the cultists had latched onto didn't worry him in the least. The fuchsia blood dripping from the Nathan-bot that had dropped down between Brenna Gordon and Kelli after their match was symbolic, but not the true cause for concern.
No, the fact that these cretins were using Kelli to get to Nathan and vice versa was what gave the Magical Madman pause. "Why must they always meddle in my love life?" Nathan grumbled as he reached the door to "Balance," the world the love between he and Kelli had actually created. When he pulled it ajar, he was not surprised at all to see N. Saniti standing in wait. Who he was shocked to encounter was Fate.
"We have a problem," informed N. Saniti.
Fate stood silent as Nathan tilted his head in curiosity. A tip of the hat allowed him access to Balance as Fate and N. Saniti parted to let him pass. "I'm aware of our problem."
"You're aware of the problem with Kelli," Fate challenged, "but there's a far larger problem lurking."
Nathan's shoulders slumped from the weight of this news. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can bear," thought Nathan. A rather comfortable looking Toadstool popped up, inviting Nathan to take a load off of his feet. A similar pair grew to give the other gentlemen a place to rest and chat.
Fate brought Nathan up to speed on the plans that N. Saniti was privy to before he and Nathan had been split apart. Nathan sat in wide-eyed shock as Fate and N. Saniti spun the tale of gathering the Seeds of Death, the Seven Deadly Sins of Man for Lord Chaos. The Nightmare King wished for N. Saniti to take his position so that he may abdicate and once again become the Black Horseman; Death.
War, Famine, and Pestilence had each been given a pair of the Seeds to disperse across the Earth. Chaos had kept the Wrath collected by N. Saniti, but it was a ruse. N. Saniti had absorbed the Wrath, only collecting a small portion to sate the spell and eventually returning it into Alexa to prevent further catastrophe.
"Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, bore the fruit that could turn the tide," explained Fate.
"The Seeds of Life," noted Nathan aloud.
"Exactly." Fate crossed his arms and legs, shaking his head. "The problem is we have no idea just which worlds the Seeds of Life fell into. With infinite realms to choose from, how does one narrow it down?"
"I believe I may know someone who has come into one of the Seeds of Life within the halls of PCW."
"That's one down," started N. Saniti, "but with six more to go, it still leaves a never ending search."
"I wonder if there's a device we could use to narrow the field?"
Clarity dawned on Nathan. "Perhaps if everything is so interconnected, then Kelli's induction into the Infiniti Council and the appearance of Absinthe in the Realms..."
"What did you just say?" queried Fate.
"Once you gave me the ability to wander the realms once again, I attempted to return to my beloved Witzend. What greeted me instead was a doorway to Absinthe."
"I see." Fate fell silent once again, stroking his chin in thought. "You may be onto something. The fact that your love with Kelli created Balance may have been offset."
"What do you mean?" quizzed N. Saniti.
"When Love made Balance, then Hate must have conjured something to keep the equilibrium." Fate contemplated further. "Yes. I believe that is, in fact, what happened. I'm certain of it."
"That's all fine," snapped N. Saniti, "but how does this help us find the Seeds of Life?"
"That hasn't come to me yet. My gut dictates that there's some sort of mechanism we could use to our advantage. Nathans!"
"What?" they both chimed in unison.
"Keep Kelli as safe as possible," instructed Fate. "She could very well be the key to all of this."
Both of the Nathans looked at each other. Without a word, they knew what the other was thinking. The thoughts unspoken only lead to one thing: they must work together once again and upon a moment's notice to quell any danger that may decide to inflict itself on their love. The tournament was important, but nowhere near as crucial to either of them as Keliska Staronova.
