An Unexpected Turn of Events: Part 4

Freedom. What is freedom? And why is it so important to us?

We would rather die than give up the freedom of choice, the freedom to decide who we want to be and what we want to do.

Freedom can't be defined, it can't be described.

Freedom is something every being wishes to have, but only a few ever get.

Why does it define us?

It is because, without freedom we would be nothing but empty shells living day by day, having no choice in want we want.

We would be mindless drones, mindless beings, having no will.

Freedom is something that cannot be taken from us, no matter what.

For it is at the very foundation of our lives, and only we can decide what we do with it.

- Anonyms

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Location: River of Greed, Foundation Faction ship

Time: Year 16 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

The entire crew of the ship were extremely nervous. Their captain was wounded and unconscious, while their vice-captain was still disorientated and being threatened by a psychotic handsome looking man.

Knowing that they would die if they interfered, the crew unanimously decided to not interfere and if necessary abandon ship.

For they cared only about their lives and couldn't care less if the vice-captain or captain died.

As the crew members were thinking of this, though, they suddenly noticed something. The psychotic man was smiling at them!

Seeing this, the crew members felt a chill in their back, not knowing what this man wanted to do with them.

As number 175 saw the crew members being extremely frightened and nervous, he smiled even more.

He then turned his attention once more to the man in front of him.

"Now, where were we?"

"Ah yes, you little ant, will answer my questions or you will die a slow and painful death!" said number while chuckling.

Colin being desperate to ensure his survival and the life of his captain, nodded to number 175 in front of him.

"Hehe good, good, little ant!"

"Now, tell me where have you and your crew have been for the last 5 years."

Asked number 175 while now staring ominously at Colin, no longer smiling, but only showing a cold and emotionless face.

"Uh, well for the last 5 years we have constantly been going back and forth from the faction harbour."

"Our task is to find and collect slaves for the faction and then deliver them to the harbour." said Colin with a terrified expression.

Hearing this number 175 was pleased. He finally was one step closer to finding the source and bringing it back to his leader!

"Now tell me, how long will it take us to get to that faction harbour of yours?" asked number 175 while focusing his attention once more on the crew.

"Uh, well normally it would take at least a week, but because of the River of Greed flowing extremely quickly in the harbour's direction this month, it would take around a day if we were to go at full speed!" said Colin while staring at his captain to see how much he had recovered so far.

" I see, now here is my last little question, little ant, do you need a crew for us to get there in one day?" asked number 175 while once more smiling ominously.

"Uh well, technically if we had a strong enough wind current and the entire ship was ready, we wouldn't need one, but why do you want to know that?" said Colin with a vigilant gaze as he crawled over to his captain to cover him if anything were to happen.

"Oh, don't worry little ant, I shall spare you and that precious little captain of yours."

"But the rest…"

As number 175 said this an two small silver-coloured tornadoes appeared in both of his hands. He then turned around and smile at the crew.

Before they could react though, the two silver tornadoes shot at them with such speed that most people, even awakened people, wouldn't be able to see it.

Suddenly, their painful and anguish filled voices could be heard as they were torn to shreds at the very spot they stood.

Just like that, an entire crew of over 50 men were wiped out.

The two tornadoes were not done though, as they then became larger and larger, as they then pushed the ship and the sail at a rapid speed.

Number 175 then turned around and smiled once more at Colin.

"Now as you can see, extremely strong currents and winds will boost this ship, so we should be able to get there in less than a day, no?"

"Maybe even in a few hours, no?"

"Why don't you get too it, eh?"

"Or do you have something better to do?" asked number 175 brightly smiling at Colin.

Colin answered with a grunt as he forced himself up while carrying his captain with him to the helm of the ship.

Seeing this number 175 chuckled to himself, he then walked to the cabins. He was following the trail to a certain cabin way at the back of the hallway.

As he then finally arrived at the cabin door, of where the trail ended, he felt something very strange.

It felt very familiar, yet at the same time it felt like an extremely unfamiliar and strange power was living in that cabin.

As he thought of this, he slowly opened the door and walked into the cabin. He then closed the door behind him.

Scanning the room number 175 did not seem to find anything special or anything close to what he had just felt.

This confused him, yet just as he was about to raze the entire cabin in order to find that strange power, he saw something in the corner of his eye.

In the left-hand corner of the cabin, there was a small, seemingly invincible dark black stain.

The average person wouldn't be able to see this stain, yet for a powerful being like number 175, this was no challenge at all. Seeing this stain, he cautiously walked over to it, wanting to find out what in the world it was.

He though suddenly stopped in his tracks, as he realized what that stain was, or better said what was hiding in it, using it as its cover and shelter.

Number 175 became extremely furious and stared at the stain with rage-filled eyes.

He then proceeded to say something, while gritting his teeth.

" A Maggon!!!"

At the helm of the ship:

Colin had placed the captain next to him as he steered the ship in the direction of the Foundation Faction harbour. Colin was worried what would happen to them once they arrived there, seeing as they were now in a way traitors, but remembering how strong number 175 was, he assured himself that the Foundation Faction would be too occupied in dealing with number 175 to execute them for betrayal.

Just as he was thinking of this, though, an explosion could be heard and felt on the ship. The ship rocked with great vigour as this explosion was so powerful, that if it were not because this ship was made out of elemental wood and on top of that being enhanced, it would have been blown to smithereens before Colin could even react.

Colin, wanting to find out what happened, was shocked to find number 175 covered with black ash standing right next to him.

"Carry on steering the ship, nothing else needs to concern you!" said number 175 with a raspy voice, as it seemed he had swallowed some ash from that explosion.

Hearing this, Colin nodded and turned his attention back to steering the ship, yet at the back of his head, he couldn't help but ask, what happened?

Location: Underground Mining Area 50 G

Time: Year 16 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

Steven was in a dire situation; he did not know where he was, and he was exhausted by having to carry the woman on his back while running without stopping.

He also did not know if there were more creatures like that grotesque thing he had previously knocked out.

While thinking about this Steven noticed that not too far behind him was a small dog, it looked harmless and adorable, yet his senses were warning him that was not the case.

Feeling something very dangerous from the little dog, Steven pushed himself, even more, to run faster.

Yet the little dog didn't seem to get further away, rather it seemed to get closer and closer to Steven.

Realising this Steven became extremely anxious, he didn't know where he was running towards and by know, he was just running and turning into any tunnel that was in front of him to get rid of the little dog.

After a while Steven noticed something. Not too far ahead of him was a massive crater.

In this crater, fire surrounded everything and there was a lot of rubble, as if a tremendous explosion had taken place.

Yet in the centre of this crater, unlike the rest, there was no fire. Rather, there were a bunch of people all chained up and lying on the floor. Seeing this Steven had to make a very important decision, he had to decide between either trying to outsmart and outrun the dog or take his chances at the centre.

As Steven was about to make a decision, his senses warned him that the dog was extremely nearby, leaving him no choice Steven took the risk and run to the centre of the crater.

As Steven ran he quickly turned his head to see where the dog was, yet to his surprise the dog had stopped at the entrance of the cavern, not willing to enter the cavern.

Seeing this Steven knew he had made the right decision, but he couldn't help but think of why that dog had stopped.

What was the reason?

Before Steven noticed though, he had already reached the centre of the cavern and to his amazement he found all of his comrades unconscious and chained up.

Seeing this, Steven's eyes widened in shock as he discovered some other people that he had seen 5 years ago before everyone split up.

One of these people was a man with purple hair and a pink moustache.

Steven remembered that this man had led the largest group of people into the other tunnels as they split up, Steven thought that that group would have easily conquered everything in their path and reach the exit of the Underground Mining Area, yet contrary to what he had believed it seemed he was wrong because only the purple-haired man with a pink moustache and a few other that were with him were now here at the cavern.

Extremely nervous and frightened Steven walked over to his comrades to see if they were okay, thankfully as he went over to them and checked if they were still alive, he discovered they were only unconscious and not hurt.

Sighing with relief, Steven then placed the woman on his back onto the floor, so he could find out what was going on.

Steven looked at the surrounding area and couldn't discover anything out of order, yet just as he was about to stop looking around, he saw something in the cavern's corner.

It was the same rotting corpse he had previously knocked out!

The rotting man was hanging on the ceiling with its feet and hands firmly put into the rock and despite his body seemingly about to fall apart at any moment, the beast was very stable as if this weren't even a challenge for it.

The beast noticing Steven had finally discovered him smiled at Steven with his rotten teeth and mouth. In the process, while he did this, an uncountable amount of maggots fell out of his mouth.

Steven seeing this wanted to puke, yet he suddenly noticed he was quickly losing consciousness and before he could do anything else, he fell onto the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

As this all happened, the small dog had also become unconscious, falling into a deep sleep at the entrance of the crater.

Location: Unending Primal Forest

Time: Year 16 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

Phillip and the scarred man finally arrived at where the rest of Phillip's comrades were, and to their amazement, they discovered that the scarred man's companion was dead not too far away from them.

As the scarred man saw this, he snorted in disgust as he didn't feel any remorse or pity that his companion had died.

For his companions were from the dreadful Foundation Faction and anyone from that dreadful place only deserved death in the scarred man's opinion, excluding himself of course.

Seeing that the scarred man couldn't care less that his companion had died, Phillip nodded with respect as he now knew he could partially trust the scarred man.

As he could sense that this scarred man had no feelings of love or loyalty for the Foundation Faction, only hatred and he would definitely be useful in its destruction.

Although, this was not the time to think about such things, as Phillip's companions had run to Phillip to tell him what had happened.

"What happened?" asked Phillip in a serious tone.

"There was an enormous explosion at the Foundation Factions Harbour. We could see a large fire erupt from the ground and reach up to 20 meters into the sky!" said one of the Crowned Knights of Freedom.

Hearing this, Phillip turned his attention to Temarr and the old man to see what they had to say.

The old man and Temarr only nodded at Phillip with serious gazes to confirm what his comrades had told him.

Realising this could be very beneficial for them, Phillip turned his attentio0n once more to the scarred man behind him.

"Your up now, I hope you hold up your side of the bargain." said Phillip with a neutral expression.

As the scarred man heard this, he could only sigh to himself as he then proceeded to walk in front of the group heading North/West.

After 200 meters, the scarred man stopped and took out a shining grey rock with a small antique looking F pattern on it.

He then shoved the stone forward. Rather than moving though, it stopped midway with his arm in the air as if it had encountered a barrier.

As Phillip and the rest were wondering what was going to happen, they noticed that a radiant light beamed out from the stone.

Following this, a wide archway made of iron and stone appeared before the scarred man.

The scarred man shook his head at the group to tell them to follow him.

Seeing this, Phillip nodded at his group and hurried to catch up to the scarred man, with the rest of the group not being far behind.

With this, they were one step closer to arriving at the harbour and facing the Foundation Faction once more in battle.

Location: Unknown

Time: Year 16 of the Era of Change

Era: Era of Change

It was an extremely quiet and dark place, and only the occasional sound of a drop of water dripping could be heard.

This what Steven woke up with, he did not know where he was, all he knew was that he felt very safe and that he could stay here forever and think about nothing else but this calm and dark place.

For Steven was tired, and exhausted.

He had enough with everything; he wasn't anything special he was just a normal human being, yet everyone expected him to survive and do things like them, yet he couldn't even defeat a simple bunny in this new world because of it being much stronger and faster than compared to the previous world.

Sighing to himself as he thought of all these things, Steven once more felt extremely tired and wanted to fall asleep.

Yet just as he was about to do that, he felt something snap him out of his tiredness.

He didn't know what it was, yet he felt he had to find it as if it was vital to his survival.

But despite this, he still strongly felt like giving up and just falling asleep, forever.

So, while he was now trying to find this thing that was keeping him awake, he had to combat the feeling of constantly feeling tired and just wanting to give up and sleep.

As Steven was looking for this thing, which felt like an eternity for Steven, he finally found something.

There was a white line in front of Steven. He couldn't see then beginning of it, nor could he see the then end. He could only see the white line in the unending darkness.

Without thinking twice, Steven crossed the white line and too his amazement he was suddenly in a pure white room.

Steven felt refreshed as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Thinking of what could have caused this, Steven discovered that the little dog that had been chasing him was right in front of him.

As Steven saw the little dog his eyes widened in horror as he knew he was doomed.

Yet the attack that he was expecting, did not arrive.

Unexpectedly the little dog looked at Steven as if he was a fool.

It then proceeded to stretch its little white body and then walk up to Steven.

When it arrived before him it opened its mouth:

"Yo, human, want to get out of here?"

"Do you want to be free?"

Hearing this Steven's eyes widened even more in awe as he didn't expect this little dog to be able to speak.

Yet before he could think of an answer, something happened.

The originally white room, that was as white as ivory and slowly became black and dark.

As if the light was being corrupted, destroyed and overtaken.

Before Steven could react, he was already surrounded by darkness once more, and unlike before this darkness was so overwhelming that Steven almost directly passed out.

He felt like he was suffocating as if he was about to die or fall asleep and never awaken.

Although, just as Steven was about to become unconscious, he suddenly heard the dog's voice once more.

"Let me ask you again."

"Do you want freedom, little boy?"

Hearing this Steven as if in a trance couldn't help but remember what his friends Evelyn, Phillip and Michael had once told him, before the awakening.

"Steven, we know its tough, but in the end it's your choice if you want to kill yourself or not."

"You have that freedom, that choice!"

"But know this as long as we are alive, we will stop you at all costs, for we also have the freedom to choose, to choose to stop you!"

"So, know this: no matter what you choose, we will always be there, if you like it or not! For we are your friends!"

As Steven remembered this, he couldn't help but cry and shout in frustration.

He didn't know if his friends were alive, if he would even survive, yet he knew one thing, he would find them and reunite, no matter the cost.

As if he was now filled with unending energy, Steven, not anymore being affected by the darkness, answered the dog.

"You ask if I want freedom?"

"My answer? You sure as hell can!"

"And I will never ever give it up!"

As this was said, a chuckle could be heard and then the dog spoke once more.

"Good, very good. Now we are going to have a lot of fun, little boy!"

With all of this happening things were coming closer and closer to an end and a new beginning.

A new dawn of a dark era.