Solemn Returns

[Tobias Stalt]

Closed to Vincent Cain.

"Land on the horizon, cap'n!" the first mate hurried toward a grizzled, fat seafarer with an anxious gleam in his eyes. "It's Beinost, alright. The navigator you picked up is definitely worth his salt." They exchanged glances then looked in unison toward a strange man who leaned over the railing. "What did he say his name was?"

"Stalt, if memory serves," the captain replied in a robust baritone. "At least, that's what the ship manifest says. I couldn't tell you if it's true or not. The man rarely talks, and when he does it's all business. If he really is Tobias Stalt, he's a bloomin' fool for leaving behind his father's business a second time."

"Aye," the young blonde woman sized up Stalt, a man who wore rags unfit to clothe a Merchant Prince of Dehlos. The tattered black vestments flowed gently in the sea breeze as they drifted steadily toward shore, still several nautical miles off. "He's really living up to the reputation of a man who doesn't care about coin."

"Best mercenary in the Free City of Dehlos, I heard," the jolly, plump, white bearded geezer huffed. "Or he was, once. Rumor has it he left for two years without a word, even to his father. If you believe the local market buzz."

"Storm's brewing," a dull voice chimed. Both captain and first mate turned to regard Tobias, who continued to stare out to sea. The waves seemed placid, but the wind slowed. "If you want to avoid the shoals, unfurl the sails and get as much wind in them as can be managed. You don't want to try docking in Beinost during a storm."

"You heard the man, Miss Harle. Give me full sail, and bring us into port."

"Aye, cap'n!" Harle called out orders to all hands on the deck. Men snapped instantly to work, hands full with rigging and feet scurrying up it. "Full sail!" she barked. "Get us to Beinost within the bell, or its no dinner tonight!"

Tobias took a step toward the captain. "You promised you would leave the minute we got to Raiaera," the older man whispered in a low voice. "The others can't smell the death on you, but I'm no green sailor, Stalt. These children don't know the pain of war, and gods willing they never will. But someone like you? The reaper follows everywhere you go. Do you intend to keep your word?"

Shadows cast by his hood parted as Tobias raised his gaze to regard the captain. A chill rushed down the old man's spine. He gazed into amber eyes devoid of light and marked the creature before him. Those were the eyes of a man who had suffered immeasurably. "My word is my bond," Tobias replied curtly. "No harm will come to you or your men."

The captain nodded in silence.

"Landfall in eight minutes on current course, cap'n," Harle called back to him from the bow. "We should outrun the storm with plenty of time to spare!"

"Good," came the muttered response. "Good." He glanced to where Tobias stood, but the specter of a man already returned to his place along the rail. "What did you see," he asked curiously, "that changed you?"

Tobias smiled to himself sadly as he gazed into the depths. "I saw the world," he answered dryly. "Just like I dreamed of as a child."

"The Harbor bell is ringing," Harle cried out, "they're guiding us in."

"Maintain course and speed, Miss Harle," the captain ordered. He turned to Tobias and shook his head. "For what it's worth, Stalt," he said. "I'm sorry."

Tobias chuckled.

[Cards of Fate]

The words cracked across the radio silence like a bolt of lightning.

Tobias Stalt had returned.

Vincent Cain, Emperor to the Tarot Hierarchy, slayer of a dark goddess, and leader of one of Raiaera’s richest companies shivered. He tapped the amulet that hung on his chest and cleared his throat, sitting upright in his chair.

“Repeat that? Did you just say Tobias Stalt?” His brow furrowed as he glared down at the large stack of documents before him.

“Yes sir,” a nameless voice echoed over the mental communications network. “I have the manifest right here in my hands. No one has left the boat yet…” There was a pause. “Do you want us to detain him?” The scholar shuddered.

“No, don’t even try to surveil him unless he makes a break for the road. Just…hold the ship for some inspections. I’ll be right there…” The scholar scowled and rose from his seat. “Tell me, what’s the weather like?” Silence followed for several minutes.

“Looks like a storm, Sir.”

Somehow, Vince knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant reunion.

…
Beinost, Raiaera.
A cloud of teal sparks erupted out of nowhere, condensing into a portal of some sorts with a loud CRRRRACK. It stood, glowing ominously for a few moments before Vincent strode through it glancing over his surroundings. He’s managed to arrive just shy of the docks in an abandoned alleyway. To his left and right were crumpling warehouses, behind him a rubble filled dead end. The scholar brushed some dust from his august purple robes and strode forward into the harsh coastal winds.

The clouds overhead swirled ominously as thunderheads loomed on the horizon threatening to douse the port with a deluge of rain. The scholar’s golden locks danced wildly in the wind as his sapphire eyes scanned the docks for the boat in question. Steeling himself, Vincent tapped the amulet.

“Give ‘em the all clear. I’m here. Don’t attempt to back me up, don’t surveil us, don’t follow us. Tobias Stalt will kill any interlopers, but I don’t think he’ll kill me.”

There was no reply for several moments, and the wind howled in some vain attempt to cover the deafening silence.

“You think?” the voice chimed in over the line.

“Even if he does,” the scholar quipped, “I’ll just get back up knowing where we stand…” Silence greeted him once more for several moments, and Vince watched as a man disembarked from the boat and began to quickly shuffle down the dock.

“All clear sir, just…be careful.”

“I will.”

The scholar moved to the end of the dock, right where the pier met the cobblestone, and stuffed both hands in his pockets. He adopted a relaxed stance and waited. Sure enough, Tobias was one of the first men off the boat, making his way quickly towards shore. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Vincent standing there, waiting for him.

“Have a nice trip?” The scholar quipped removing his hands from his pockets and opening them in a welcoming gesture. “I sure hope you brought me a souvenir or something, because boy howdy I might just be a little upset if you didn’t” The scholar held back the tears that wanted to well up and trickle down his cheeks. It had been two years since he had left, tearing a hole in his heart. Yet here the man seemed to stand, completely indifferent to Vincent.

“And man, you better have a big chest full of jewelry for Alyssa, because you sir, are in the dog house.” The scholar faked a smile; humor was going to be his only defense here. He had to play it off, to keep his cool.

[Tobias Stalt]

Sailors filed past Tobias down the ramp as he stared down at Vincent. They hurried toward shelter, the loud tavern a welcome sight after nearly three months at sea. As Harle passed him, she stopped and offered a kind smile. "Thanks for getting us to Raiaera in one piece, Stalt," she told him. "We might not see each other again, but good luck in your endeavors."

He nodded, but Tobias did not look away from Vincent nor did he smile. "Enjoy Raiaera, Miss Harle. It is a very different land from Dehlos. Gold is not a god to them. You will find necessity, not greed rules in this land." She nodded quietly as she shuffled past and left the two men to their awkward staring match. "I did not expect to see you in Beinost," the Dehlosian replied finally when they were alone. "I explicitly intended not to."

The wind howled. Lightning streaked between dark clouds, and the sky opened. A deluge ravaged both men before Tobias broke the silence again. "When I left," he stated over the storm, "I knew that the Hierarchy could not stop the chaos. I thought magic was the corruption that ate away at men, and that your methods would only serve to exacerbate the problem."

Both his arms rested at his sides, and Tobias made no movement to reach for weapons. His eyes moved over Vincent thoughtfully, and he considered the apparel that his old friend chose. It was strange, in a way. "In Kebiras, I came to understand that the scope of my hate was narrow. With that weakness, I became no different from the root of the problem- and it was a problem I was blind to. I could not see beyond what I wanted to see."

One hand rose, peeled back the hood, and fell once more. His hair had grown to shoulder length, messy and plastered down by the rain. All trace of kindness and joy had left his expression, which now looked harder than trueforged steel. His eyes remained the same regal golden color, but lacked all semblance of life. Many times he had recalled Vincent and Alyssa. Her name still stirred something within him, albeit buried deep. Whatever warmth remained in Tobias, it was slowly dying.

"I have work to do, Vincent," he told the man. "I came back to do what I couldn't, those two years ago. I know my enemy now. I will fight the corruption with that knowledge."

The words of a Fallen King resonated deeply with him. "Only the wicked can slay the wicked," he whispered to himself.

His lips twisted into a grim smile, and he tilted his head. "I will make a better world," he told the boy he had watched become a man. "For the people who truly deserve it." Tobias gripped the ornate sword hilt at his hip. He could feel the sorrow there, a guttural roar from the immaterial. "For the people who were not allowed to see it."

As he looked at Vincent, he could feel the rage sizzling in his gut. He knew what the man was, but could only guess at his intentions. Had he come to see an old friend, or to make him answer for old crimes? Could it be that he intended to stop him outright? "Let me pass," he demanded gently.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent listened in silence as Tobias spoke. The deluge of rain accentuating his speech with a fierce and feral beat as it slammed against the ground. His words captivated every ounce of Vincent’s attention. Each syllable ran over a thousand times over looking for some hidden meaning, to better understand the man standing before him dressed as Tobias Stalt. He spoke of chaos, of making a better world, and fighting corruption. His words should have held some form of passion, but instead they felt cold and lifeless.

The man that stood before Vincent was not Tobias Stalt, but his walking corpse.

Finally at the end of his speech he asked for Vince to allow him passage, to end their brief encounter as if it was simply some passing affair. Vincent’s façade broke, his grin contorting into a feral grimace.

“No.” The word uttered seemed to cut through the noise, and for a moment there was a brief silence, a moment of clarity in the deluge that had engulfed them. “I will not let you pass yet, because I am not done with you Stalt.” His words were calm, but his tone wavered slightly, betraying the rage he was trying to keep locked within him.

“Two years.” The words left his lips, his face contorting as If they had sour taste. “You left us for two years! Alyssa went looking for you! I had people scour the FUCKING globe for you! You killed our operatives, good men with families! And the entire time Alyssa was defending your actions!” The scholar’s hands balled up into fists. “I, DEFENDED YOUR ACTIONS.” His body began to tremble, his rage tensing every muscle in his body.

“AND FOR WHAT?” he bellowed. “FOR YOU TO SHOW UP AND ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED? THAT YOU HAD FOUND SOME GRANDIOUS MISSION FROM THE HEAVENS TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE?” Tears streamed down Vincent’s face, masked by the storm. His regal blonde hair had grown slicked to his face, turning a dark brown from the dampness. “WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THE WORLD THE BETTER PLACE FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS WHILE YOU DICKED AROUND ELSEWHERE, AND NOW YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO SAY THAT YOU’VE RETURNED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM?”

The scholar stepped forward, closing the gap between Tobias and him. Soon he was face to face with the man he had so desperately been missing. He stared into those cold unfeeling eyes, his teeth gritted with rage as he spoke once more.

“How fucking dare you.” The words practically left his lips in a whimper. “We needed you, and you left. We loved you, and you left.” The rage seemed to burn away, leaving nothing but sorrow left. “You just walked away from us, why?” Lightning cracked overhead once more illuminating the sky, illuminating the scholar’s face. “I’m not done until you give me some fucking answers, Stalt. I need to know what happened…”

[Tobias Stalt]

Vincent Cain unleashed a torrent of emotions to rival any storm.

Tobias faced the onslaught head on, until the other man spoke about defending his actions. Alyssa and Vincent not only forgave his murders of their friends, but went so far as to defend the actions and rationalize them. His lips twisted into a mask of contempt. "Why," his voice wavered on the brink of abject venom as he matched the intensity of the young man's glare, "would you trivialize and indemnify the actions of a vile criminal? Lives were lost. Innocent lives." Vincent tried to speak like Tobias would have been the answer to some problem, if only he had remained. The problem itself could never be a solution. "Convenient," he seethed through grit teeth.

He glanced past the other man. Tobias already knew that Vincent would never see what he had. It was impossible to convince him. "You can't change the world like that, Vincent," he sneered as he took a step around the other man. The boards creaked beneath his feet and rain streaked down his face. "You would justify a man's actions and look the other way just because he was a friend. What kind of leader tolerates such evils?"

Tobias shook his head. "A just King would not suffer my existence."

Below the docks, water churned like a pot brought to a boil. The storm raged overhead and cracked the sky at staccato intervals. "You want to know why I left?" he spat, "you allow sickness and rot to fester in front of your eyes and do nothing. You take action that sits well within your views, but you ignore the real problems of this world. You did not witness the things I did in Salvar, you were not there in Eiskalt when I sent countless men to their deaths and riddled an entire nation with plague. You did nothing to stop me, Vincent, and here I am. I am standing before you, the reckoning of this nation and all things beyond, and all you want to do is be friends."

His hand whipped up to Vincent's collar and Tobias pulled his face within inches of the other man's own. His voice was a vicious whisper. "Kill me, Vincent. If you want a better world, start with the blight right in front of you. If you can't even do that, don't talk to me about making a difference."

The sky barked again, and for an instant both men were white as snow. Neither man wavered despite the blistery gale. Tobias let Vincent go, but his eyes never left the Emperor's gaze. "Love," he snorted, "How do you love someone like me? I asked all of the whores, and not one could tell me what it meant. I loved Camille, and look where it got her. And poor Erica. That is the wages of loving me, Vincent Cain. Everyone who loves me dies. There is a lesson in that. Learn it."

[Cards of Fate]

Stalt made a motion to step away after his little sermon, but this time Vince snatched the mercenary’s collar and pulled him closer. “Do not walk away from me!” he growled, staring daggers at the man he once called brother. “You speak of my hypocrisy, but I knew walking into our relationship the types of atrocities you had committed. But you had been a kind man, to me and to Alyssa. I thought that surely you were willing to walk the path of redemption. Yet here we stand.”

The scholar seethed. “Do not lecture me on my actions. I gave you every chance to redeem yourself, even now, you can stop this right here! Yet you’ve decided to walk this path. I’ve not been spared from the hell this world can be, Stalt. I’ve peered into the abyss, and I found hope in even the bleakest darkness Tobi. I don’t see a sick man before me, I don’t see a monster. I see a man who needs a fucking chance to see the GOD DAMN LIGHT.” Flecks of spittle flew from the scholars mouth as he spoke, sprinkling the mercenaries face.

Vince could feel Tobias’ cool, rhythmic breath on his face due to his close proximity. “Alyssa and I wanted to give you a chance. We WANTED to believe that it was a misunderstanding. Now I understand all too clearly though. You let the evils of this world get the better of you.” He let the mercenary go, and took several steps back. “You’re weak, and you let yourself be consumed by everything. You stopped being the man we loved a long time ago.” Lightning crackled violently overhead, bathing the two in pale light once more. “You weren’t worth it, I should have written you off two years ago. You weren’t worth the agony, you weren’t worth the stress.” The scholars hands clenched into fists, his knuckles white with stress.

“You weren’t worth the LOVE ANY OF US BORE YOU.” The scholar hissed.

“Especially not Alyssa’s.”

[Tobias Stalt]

"Are you done?" Tobias asked gravely as Vincent spoke about being lectured, then went as far as to say their feelings were wasted. His eyes were wide, and they burned fiercely as he fought back the urge to punch the man in the nose. A younger Tobias might have lost himself to the desire ages ago, the first time he spoke the forbidden words. Now, Vincent had spoken too freely, too many times. "If all you have left are insults, I am finished with you."

Her name rang in his ears each time Vincent spoke it. He could see her, the smile that she wore, and the brightness in her eyes. Even her anger, and the times that she had chastised him hung bitterly in his heart. She was frozen there forever, a perfect portrait of what he could never have. Alyssa.

"Say her name again," Tobias snarled as he took a step even closer, chest to chest now with the taller man. "I dare you."

Of all the things Tobias threw away to get where he was, the escaped Alerian was one thing he could not bear to part with. For all that the thought of her broke him, it gave him hope as well. Tobias hoped that her future would be bright, and that with his own sacrifice she might one day be able to show others the way into the light. When Vincent spoke of Alyssa Snow, he sullied everything Tobias cared about.

Despite that he did not want to harm Vincent initially, that reservation rapidly bled away. "You want to write me off?" he asked in a tight voice, "write me off, Vincent, but you leave her out of this." He never said her name, like it was something sacrosanct. It was like he was not worthy of it.

A familiar blue glow radiated from his sleeve as Tobias' hands shuffled beneath his cloak, and he brandished the wicked mithril blade. "Please, give me a reason."

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar scowled as the mercenary brandished his blade. Something inside him snapped, the rage he was feeling seemed too justified. Yet the way he treated HER, like she was the last thing that mattered to him. Like the bond they had shared meant literally nothing. He snapped his fingers, and from a spark of blue came a large damascus blade that tingled with ambient energy. The two had crossed a point of no return.

“Oh?” he cooed, half coyly and half angrily. “DID I TOUCH A FUCKING NERVE?” He seethed. He took one step back and brandished his blade, his eyes adopting an ethereal blue glow. Blue sparks began to dance around the scholar’s form. Soon he was alight in blue flame, when it faded the scholar’s attire had changed. Now he was clad in large trench coat, plated with titanium in strategic places. His hands were protected with gauntlets bearing curved spikes that jutted out and back towards the scholar. Atop his head was a simple iron circlet bearing the Roman numeral “V”. Finally, after several moments of silence, save for the howling storm, Vince spoke once more.

“Al…” he paused, smirking slightly, “Lyssa!”

Tobias lunged forward angrily, stabbing wildly at Vincent’s throat. The scholar took a step back, and parried the blade aside and swiping for the mercenary’s chest. Tobias simply ducked under the blade and rushed the scholar, stabbing forward once more. His blade met with a cloud of sparks as Vincent vanished and appeared behind the man, the telltale blue flash masked by a crack of lightning. Tobias spun around and took a step back, widening the gap. The two stared each other down for several moments, strafing in a circle waiting for an opening. Behind them, the coastal waves crashed angrily against the peer, filling the air with a salty spray. Vince waited for another large crash to obscure their vision and lunged, swiping several times in quick succession.

Tobias stepped back and parried each blow with the grace and skill that could only be learned from years of combat. Vince could tell immediately that the mercenary was significantly faster than him, but Vince held the advantage when it came to raw strength. Taking a step back Vince hastily blocked the deluge of blows that came in reply from Tobias. Each strike bounced off of Vincent’s blade, his arms not even wavering. The time for tears had long passed; the time for apologies was a distant memory. Now, all that was left to be said could only be sung through steel.

The two began to circle once more, the student and the master following each other’s moves like a hawk. Long ago, Tobias would have been correcting Vincent’s stance and posture, now he simply saw a reflection of himself, much younger and much less world weary. Lighting cracked once more overhead, and battle raged on fiercer than the storm. Each step grew more and more treacherous as the cobblestone beneath their feet grew ever slicker. The wind howled through the empty town, causing an eerie moan, as if the city of Beinost was mourning the death of their friendship. Each clash of blades echoed like thunder, ringing through the air. Each movement was as quick as lightning, and as fierce as the storm overhead.

[Tobias Stalt]

Their blades kissed, then parted. Vincent narrowed his eyes and considered Tobias, the man who once taught him all that he knew. Somewhere beneath that darkness, he wanted to believe his friend still lived. For all the light that broke the sky, it was still a tall order. Speed and strength matched each other in perfect harmony as Stalt used his body to counteract the immense advantage his former student held.

His expert bladework danced in rhythm with Cain and rendered his weapon ineffectual. Tobias twisted his body and turned the blade, then Vincent's fingers twisted the wrong way. The blade fell from his grasp and clattered to the cobbles. "Fuck!" Vincent cursed loudly to abate the fleeting pain. Tobias' eyes flashed in that instant, filled with killing intensity honed on countless battlefields. He struck viciously for Vincent's throat.

But his blade stopped.

Tobias blinked as Cold ground against the metal that covered Vincent's forearm. With a deft and powerful swipe, Vincent ripped the long knife out of the Dehlosian's hand and sent it spiraling off. It slammed into the side of a home, then joined Vincent's blade on the ground. Tobias watched in slow motion as the boy he watched go from scholar to this moment cocked back his arm.

The blow that followed burned. His jaw cracked, and a tooth fell free. He felt the explosive force nearly shatter bone, and blood instantly pooled in his mouth.

"Eat shit, motherfucker!" the Emperor gloated with a smug expression. It was the first time he had ever landed a blow on Tobias. Neither man could believe it, but the reverie was short lived.

Tobias surged forward with incredible speed. Vincent's eyes widened as he started to mount another punch, but he let out a muffled yelp in surprise as a hand palmed his face. Tobias snarled as he slammed his whole body forward with the motion and dragged his former friend to the dirt, lashing out with volatile and perverse magicks all concentrated on the point of contact.

Virulent mana bled into Vincent's face all around where Tobias held him down, but the broken man had no contempt in his eyes now. His face became a mask, and what he did came from duty, not desire. He withdrew his hand after only a few seconds, but it was enough.

Vincent clawed at his face in agony, a steady and guttural wail resonating from the pit of his stomach. His face was a hideous thing, warped and sloughing off like decayed flesh from a corpse. It would most likely heal quickly, Tobias knew. He could have killed the man. He wanted Vincent to know that. He wanted Vincent to understand it.

Tobias reached back and withdrew something ancient and almost forgotten from his back. He slammed Blackheart into the soil next to Vincent's head. The mercenary stared down at the form of a man he knew all too well, taking in all that he had done. He spat a gobbet of blood into the sea.

Then he turned, went to collect his blade, and left Vincent Cain alone in the rain.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent spent several minutes howling in agony as he rolled around on the wet cobblestone. Even as his body shivered from the moisture draining heat from him, he could not escape the inferno that had engulfed his face. Several cloaked men came running from the customs house, nary a stone’s throw away and slid to the scholar’s rescue. Much to their surprise, they found the Emperors face re-knitting itself back together. Sparks danced along his skull until the injury was all but an unpleasant echo, a foul memory.

The men stared in awe as their groaned and rolled onto his stomach, lifting himself up slightly. He glanced to where Tobias had been standing, only to find Blackheart buried in the stone. He sat silently for several moments, letting the rain fall down on him silently as the storm raged on. A guttural growl grumbled from his bowels as he clenched both of his hands once more into fists. His growl escalated into a roar as he slammed both fists into the cobblestone shattering the stone beneath his fists. The operatives stood silently watching this burst of anger, before long the scholar was rising to his feet. Clutching the blade, he ripped Blackheart from the cobble stone and let out another roar.

“I AM GOING TO STAB THIS FUCKING SWORD THROUGH HIS GOD DAMN THROAT NEXT TIME I SEE HIM. I WILL DRAIN HIS BLOOD FROM HIS BODY, I WILL WATCH HIM BREATH HIS LAST BREATH.” The scholar threw the blade down and stomped angrily. “AND SO HELP ME GOD.” The scholar turned to the other Tarot Operatives, “IF ANY OF YOU SPEAK OF THIS!” The men all nodded. The Emperor’s disgrace would be kept a secret. He stomped forward, towering over all of them. “And if Alyssa asks, this was a false alarm. Tobias was never here.” The scholar glared down at the blade Tobias had left, the closest thing he had to a memento. He reached down and snatched it from the ground and snapped, ushering it into the dimension he kept all of his other gear. The men gulped, to keep such a secret could be considered treason had any other man given the order.

“Are we clear?” The scholar asked glaring at the three.

“Yes sir!” The men barked snapping to attention.

“Good!” the scholar growled turning away. He paused for a moment, and a gate of teal Tap energy burst into existence. “Remember gentlemen, this is all a secret.” With that, he was gone, stepping through back to whence he had came.

It was time for a fucking drink.