2022-07-28 Infinite Possibilities (Part 1) - Gerhard

The summer breeze ruffles Gerhard’s hair as he sits on the balcony of the Three-Headed Dragon, the chestnut brown strands dancing lazily in the air. A few, free of their bindings in the half ponytail he wears, slip down onto his face, and with a tired hand, he pushes them back onto his head.

Twenty-one days had passed. Twenty-one days of waiting for her to be found, for the call to come from Andromeda that it was time to go. Twenty-one days of the crushing loneliness that can come only from the holes in one’s heart being filled with brilliant starlight only to be dimmed once more.

He sips on his ale, his face out to the streets of Daring Heights, his back to the rest of the Dragon. The sun is setting, the sky filled with brilliant oranges and purples. Other patrons mill about behind him, and he listens with half an ear to their conversations. An adventurer or two, reminiscing of battles. A couple, their first kiss still fresh in the words they speak. Scholars, debating their latest findings.

Some of the patrons come out to the balcony, too, enjoying the summer night. Some point to the sky, in awe of the majesty of nature. Others, simply come to drink where the air is less stifling. Gerhard pays them no mind - none are close enough to bother him, sat where he is in the corner, alone with his thoughts.

“Gerhard.”

A voice, accented and beautiful, cuts across the din.

“Gerhard.”

Another voice, familiar and high-born, joins it above the cacophony of others.

“Come with us.”

Gerhard spins, his face white as the panic begins to rise, as the voices register in his mind. His ale, forgotten, nearly gets knocked over as his arms whirl about, trying to steady himself as he looks to the two figures that approach him, slowly.

“Come with us.”

Orianna, her arms outstretched, beckons to him. Her eyes are pure silver, the liquid metal seeping down her cheeks to where it pools along her jaw.

“Come with us.”

Henri, his hands open to receive Gerhard, calls him forward. His eyes shine like mirrors, too, the silver drawing lines along his cheekbones.

“Gerhard. Come with us.”

Gerhard reaches a hand out, propels himself into their arms, yearning for them to take him.

Gerhard wakes with a shout, the awful feeling of air still stuck on his finger tips. The couch where he has slept for most of the last month his hot, and the small clothes he has worn to bed stick to him in the sweat of the summer night. He pants, his adrenaline still high from his nightmare. From seeing them, deep under the thrall of the Stairs. From knowing that if he’s not careful, the dream will become reality.

Or maybe, already has.

“Ah. You’re awake. Good. We know where she is.”

Gerhard’s head shakes from side to side, the familiar voice of Andromeda filling his mind. His pulse quickens at the words, the call that he had been waiting so patiently to receive.

“Andromeda? Good morning. You found her? Where? Where do I need to go?”

“It's a little hard to describe. But we know where she is. You need to move. I can open a portal to the Library, and once you are there you can fulfill the plan of shackling Gentleman to you. Get ready, summon your friends, and I will contact you later with the location.”

Gerhard rushes to change, pulling on a light shirt and trousers before strapping his breastplate on top. He sets food and water out for Maurice, giving the cat a quick scratch around the ears. Around his neck, hanging there since it was given to him, is the locket, the small blue glow seeping through the gaps in his fingers as he grasps it tight, whispering to it as he takes one final look around the room.

“I’m coming, Orianna.”

Kavel, Beets, Marto, Dethaad, and Gerhard walk through the winding streets of Daring Heights, following the ring that echoes in Gerhard’s mind.

"I would get there quickly. I'm opening a portal in the middle of the day in a busy city. I don't want people unawares to wander in." It’s been a while since Gerhard has had to follow the ringing in his ears, Andromeda's words to him propelling him further into the city, past the Dawn Market and then north, until they come to a deserted alley. The five of them peer in, searching for the sign of Andromeda's portal, when silver begins to seep out of the brickwork before pooling in the middle of their path.

It collects, and builds, and in its place a door begins to form. It is ornate, carved in beautiful silver filigree that shimmers in the sunlight as the door swings open, revealing a small clearing in a beautiful forest beyond.

"I have lessened the effects of the Staircase." Andromeda's voice returns to Gerhard's mind. "Your friends don't have to worry about walking through it this time."

"Thank you, Andromeda," Gerhard replies, "I appreciate it." To the others, he turns to look at them all in turn. "Right. Who's going first."

"Well, you've always led the way, and we've always followed," replies Derthaad.

"Is there a lava pit?" Kavel asks, peering over the edge of the threshold to the clearing on the other side.

"No, no lava this time Kavel, and no black iron doors, either," Gerhard reassures him. Kavel nods, and without thinking twice, steps on through.

"Come on, Gerhard. Let's go." Marto gestures for Gerhard to go through, and the ranger nods, taking a step forward. As he moves towards the door, he spins on his heel, taking in his view of Daring Heights one last time. And then, as he completes his spin and faces forward towards his future, the locket he wears grasped tightly in hand, he steps through as well.

As he crosses the threshold, stepping out of the city and into The Beastlands, he can feel The Call vibrate on his shoulder. The Gentleman, kept safe in the box in the bag at his waist, vibrates too.

As the others follow, the door shuts, and as Gerhard turns to look back, it is gone. His only view now is of the clearing that they find themselves in, the gigantic trees that tower over them, the scurrying fauna that make this plane their home. He turns his head, taking in their surroundings, checking on his friends that he has brought so far from home. Beets and Marto look well, the former worried about the pies that she left on the other side. Kavel and Derthaad, though...

As Gerhard looks, he can swear that he can see tendrils of silver crossing the whites of their eyes before slowly fading away.

Derthaad looks at Gerhard, noticing the other man's stare. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Damn it. No nothing. Say it."

"Nothing, Derthaad. Let's go."

Andromeda waves a hand a lazily motion that commands her chair to glide out from under the table. As she sits, it returns to its position, the rest of her guests watching intently as she begins to speak.

"The details, are... I wouldn't say sketchy, but maybe hard for you to fully understand. Mister has Orianna in what is called a demiplane. A literal plane of existence that he has created. This is not... wildly powerful magic; most semi-decent spell casters can accomplish it. What he has done, though, is nudge this demiplane out of sync with the rest of the universe. That is why it was very hard to find Orianna. She didn't... show up anywhere."

She looks around at the others seated around the table. The room they are in is quite large, fitting for the mile high stone structure that houses the Library of All Knowledge. An hour of walking through The Beastlands and another hour of climbing steps had tired the party out, but as they meet Andromeda's eye, they appear ready for whatever comes next.

"Until," she continues, looking directly at Gerhard, "the other day. I'm assuming the rest of you don't know that Gerhard and Orianna had a conversation?" She looks around the room, seeing a few blank looks. "Mister allowed Orianna to have a conversation with Gerhard. But this communication between the two allowed me to track her location, and, I'll be honest, I don't like that he did that. It feels very deliberate. Among my family, Mister is not considered for his brains. But he is considered for his ability to outsmart most people."

Beets chirps up. "Well then, let's just punch him in the face."

Andromeda looks to her, and around the table, staring at the assembled members. "I would not recommend that." She casts her gaze to Gerhard. "I would not recommend fighting Mister."

"I mean, he can just stop us in our tracks and disable our magic, right?" Derthaad asks.

"Oh, he can remove you from reality entirely. And I don't mean a Disintegration. He can wipe your very presence from time and space."

"Then why hasn't he already, Andromeda?" Gerhard speaks for the first time since arriving a the Library, leaning forward in his chair. "What stops him?"

"I don't think he wants to. He likes to... toy, with things. Call it selfishness, or boredom. Although... he seems to be operating like he has a plan. That is unusual for Mister. He's more... free-spirited, shall we say. He's driven."

"Last time we met Mister he wanted Gentleman. And I assume Mister cannot touch Gerhard because of your protection?" Derthaad asks. "And Gentleman is with Gerhard, which means that he needs Gerhard to make a mistake?"

"That is sound reasoning, yes." Andromeda answers. "Although, he is being bolder than I expected. He's normally more scared of me."

"That's because you're scary..." Beets mutters to herself.

"So..." Marto adds, looking around at the others, "if you don't mind me asking, besides taking Orianna because of what she means to Gerhard, why does he have her?"

"I know why." Gerhard looks down to his hands, rubbing his fingers together. "Because he needed... somebody, I don't know why, but he needed her to do something. She couldn't tell me what. All I know is that it helped him. But, Andromeda," he continues, looking up to meet his steward's eye, "she got a message back to us. Did you... did you see the message?"

"I did not."

"She... she risked everything, and Mister probably knows that she did, but... she had this to say." He reaches into his bag, pulling out a piece of parchment that he begins to read out to everyone. "A deadly puzzle. Planets and stars as cardinal points, time and space as the fixed. The mutable sign has seen all and is the unknown power that will open the Gate." He sighs, placing the paper down. "She's trying to tell us... something. I don't know what the gate is. I don't know how you fix time. I don't know what the mutable sign is, but this has to mean something."

Andromeda nods, her eyes glazing over silver as Gerhard speaks. They flicker, staring ion the middle distance, searching for the words that she relays to the group. "Gentleman figured out a way to use time and space, the positions of the stars and the planets, and turn it all into a machine. A cosmic artificer's creation. He attempted to open the Staircase fully, and when he did it he obliterated three stars and their solar systems instantly."

She turns her head from side to side, searching for the answers. "We locked him away because of this, and we thought the knowledge of how to do this would be locked away with him. If Mister is going after this same machine... I don't think I need to spell the rest out for you."

"Is he doing this for the same reason as the Gentleman?" Kavel asks.

"I would assume so. The Gentleman said that he had done it because a primal part of the Staircase made him. A part that wanted nothing more than to grow and to feed. We are nothing but extensions of the Staircase, and thus hand out its will. This small part of it might have taken hold of Mister as well."

"So the Staircase is controlling him," Beets adds.

"It doesn't control us. We are it. He act on its, our... desires, and principals. We each take a part of it, but sometimes there are parts that... override our base selves, shall we say. This primal part of the Staircase might be doing the same."

"Let's assume he reaches the machine. Does he have what he needs to kickstart it?" Derthaad asks.

"I don't know. There's only one who does." As Andromeda speaks, she looks to Gerhard.

"Me?"

"My father."

Gerhard's cheeks blush, embarrassed, as he pulls his satchel onto the table, removing the cloth-covered box within. With a careful hand, he removes its wrappings, revealing the diamond walls and the gunmetal liquid within.

Andromeda, watching him work, winces as Gentleman as uncovered. "It's been a while since you spoke to him. He's a bit... upset."

"You may tell your Father he's preaching to the choir."

Andromeda grins, closing her eyes with relish. "I delight in his responses. He is miserable." Her smile fades, and she returns to look at the assembled group. "Now. I believe we were here for a reason."

"This might hurt a little Gerhard, and I do apologize for that."

Gerhard stands in the middle of the silver circle, the now-familiar but still inscrutable runes surrounding him. By his side, steadfast as always, stand the other members of his party. Each of them, watching intently as Andromeda prepares the ritual, holds a large quartz crystal. The light of the brazier that Andromeda lights reflects off of the gems, reflecting back onto Gerhard as he stands, waiting.

With a flourish, Andromeda pulls from within the folds of her golden floor length coat a brooch. The long chain that it hangs upon disappears into her pockets, and as she pulls, finds its end in a slender silver dagger. "Are you ready?"

Gerhard nods, and in a single smooth motion, Andromeda stabs her knife through the lid of Gentleman's prison. As the blade is pulled out, the shimmering liquid falls into the brazier, turning the flame a brilliant silver.

She walks around the circle, and she does, she begins to chant. The words are strange, a medley of many languages. Gerhard turns to follow her, until his back is to the flame and Andromeda stands before him.

Chanting, her tempo increasing with each word that she speaks, she looks around at Gerhard's assembled friends, and nods. In turn, each of their crystals begins to glow, becoming brighter and brighter with each passing moment until, as Andromeda reaches her crescendo, they shatter.

The shards hover in the air, suspended in Andromeda's final note, until they move as one towards Gerhard, slamming into his body with force. He gasps, the shards digging their way into his skin, forcing themselves back to the surface to become intricate tattoo-like patterns across his entire body.

Andromeda finishes chanting, and before Gerhard can even think, slams her hand into his chest. The force knocks him back, straightening his spine from where he had been hunched over from the force of the crystals piercing his flesh. She keeps her hand there, outstretched, and as her fingers begin to curl, slowly pulls back away from him.

"Get ready."

Behind Gerhard, out of sight of his vision, the light of brazier begins to burn brighter as the liquid that is Gentleman begins to swirl and float towards his spine. As it reaches him, it spreads, crawling along the folds of his clothing, seeping in towards his skin. It coats his back, and his arms, and his legs, and finally moves to cover his eyes and mouth.

He cannot see, cannot scream as the liquid encases him, cannot beg for relief as it begins to fill his pores and burrow its way within him.

As quickly as it covered him, though, it recedes, being drawn into the quartz tattoos that now delicately decorate his skin. A few seconds pass, and he can breathe. A few seconds more, and he is able to look down at the now silver tattoos as they shimmer in the lamplight of the Library.

"Oh thank fuck. Ten thousand years in a box gives one such a crick in the neck."

As Gerhard stands straighter, the weight of Gentleman resting comfortably within him now, he looks to the new figure standing casually a few feet away. "Gentleman, I presume?"

The figure gives a courteous bow, bending low before him. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance in the flesh."

"The others can't... see you, can they?"

Gentleman gives a low chuckle. "No, only you are blessed to have the pleasure to see me."

Gentleman sits in the chair, his hands held lazily in the air across from Gerhard, the two having wandered to the other end of the table where they cannot be overheard.

"Now. I suppose you would like to know a bit about the power you have borrowed."

Gerhard nods, his hand held aloft behind him as he inspects the runes and spirals that now decorate it. "Yes. How do I use this to save Orianna? How do I free Henri?"

Gentleman chuckles. "One thing at a time, my boy. Start small." He gestures to the table that they sit at. "The power to lift this table wasn't strength. My skills are a little... different. Time and gravity may find that they... bend themselves a bit to suit your needs."

Gerhard's eyes go wide, looking at the tattoos with a newfound curiosity. "Time? How do I... can I..."

Gentleman chuckles. "Remember, you have only a fraction of my true power. Something about keeping your head in one piece. So no rewriting the past, hmm? As to how... well, I'm sure you can figure it out."

Gerhard sighs, placing his hand back on the table. "And what about..."

"Freeing your man? Well, we shall come to that too. But, if I may make a suggestion..."

Gerhard returns to the others, shrugging off their concerned glances. Andromeda looks up from her work, a smile clear on her face as she watches him approach.

Quickly, though, it is replaced with a frown. "Ah. He knows where you are." In a flash of silver, she is gone, replaced by mist that curls around the legs of the table before diving towards the far end of the room.

Around the shelves, heavy footfalls can be heard. A minotaur, the silver battle-axe that he holds gleaming brightly in the dim light. A yuan-ti, her feet floating a few inches above ground, a silver staff in hand capped with a galaxy that spins lazily within its crystal orb. A
fire genasi, her fists dancing between her palms as her knuckles crack within her spiked silver knuckledusters. And a drow, her silver bow and its lack of bowstring clear as she spins it in hand.

Behind them all, a silver mist rises, the edges probing and excited. Its journey is caught short as it is met with Andromeda's mist, and the two spiral and curl together until they disappear out of sight.

"So I suppose you're the ones we're here to fight, then." The drow steps forward, eyeing their targets over.

"I mean, we don't have to," says Derthaad.

"I'm afraid we have our orders from Mister. And we're not exactly going to disobey them."

The fight is frantic, and quick. Kavel lands some blows on the genasi, who tries to respond in turn and is shrugged off. The drow fires brilliant silver arrows, their recipients feeling like they cannot catch their breath once they land. The minotaur swings his great axe, and as it connects an echo of himself flies forth for Marto to deftly dispatch. The yuan-ti witch floats above it all, her staff causing rifts as she swings it at her enemies.

"First things first. I believe you already know how to take a small Step on the Staircase, right?" Gentleman whispers in Gerhard's ear. "Go ahead, try it out."

In a flash of silver mist, Gerhard stands next to Kavel, his bow hanging by his side. Gentleman follows, hovering as he watches the fight from his un-impeachable position. "Now, how about trying something new?"

Gerhard pulls his arm back, mimicking the motion Andromeda used during the ritual, before pouring his will into the space ahead of him with a single great push. The genasi and the drow stumble under the force of the blow, the latter flying backwards to hit the far wall.

"Good, you're getting the hang of it."

Kavel and the genasi exchange further blows, each landing with enough force to shatter a lesser man. Gerhard stands nearby, exchanging arrows with the drow as she blinks around the room, landing shot after shot.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gerhard watches as the genasi winds up, the silver of her knuckledusters gleaming wickedly as they arc towards Kavel's exposed torso. "No!" He stretches out his left arm, the fingers grasping whatever they can to try and stop its course.

They find purchase not on the genasi's arm, nor on Kavel, but on the very threads of time itself. "Now, how about we give these a tug, hmm?" Gentleman's whispers in his ear guide Gerhard as he finds his grip, his hand twisting counter-clockwise in midair as the genasi begins to reverse to her previous position before his eyes. As he releases his grip, the moment begins anew. This time, Kavel is ready, and while it still lands, he is able to absorb some of the impact.

An arrow lands, the silver barb piercing deep before disappearing before his eyes. Gerhard pants, spitting a bit of blood out of his mouth onto the table he has found a place to stand on. He can't catch his breath, can't find solace as each arrow finds its way to him. The drow smirks, nocking another arrow and firing it at Derthaad and Kavel, the two wincing as the arrow finds its target.

The others are looking tired, too. Marto and Beets stare down the minotaur, the great battle axe a deft match for Marto's own. Kavel continues to land blow after blow, the genasi crumbling under his fists. Derthaad, outside of the fray but not out of range, rains down lightning, trying to wear them down.

We need to end this, Gerhard thinks to himself. I can't go much longer.