Maybe it was Glen's influence, maybe it was Vincent's as a Child of Misfortune, but they had managed to walk through the crater without being blinded by the illusions of the past created by Sablier's black haze.
Still, the journey had been a long and arduous one.
The shambling, agonized victims of the city's abyssal energy had kept them on their toes, though the mutants were hardly a match for Glen. Even in Leo's untrained body, his hand had swiftly ended their suffering with the sword he had taken from Elliot.
The ground trembles beneath their feet with every chain that breaks above and around them. The fragile cliffs and falling debris of the crater had incapacitated Duke Barma, leading Glen to question his alliance. Why hadn't he summoned his Black-winged Chain to protect himself, hm?
And then, well.
Then, there were only two.
As Glen and Vincent continue, the atmosphere of the crater abruptly changes. Vincent comes to a sudden halt, feeling the world seem to ripple around him like a heat mirage. Glen glances over his shoulder, narrowing those starry eyes.
"You aren't getting cold feet now, are you?" comes his indifferent voice.
Those conversations he'd had online echo in Vincent's head, turning his stomach. His chest burns with indignation and embarrassment at his breakdown. He shakes his head. "I. Haven't. I can't. I've destroyed everything around me, my whole life. So I can never back out of this wish," he professes.
Glen's expression sends a shiver down his spine. "Then I will make your wish come true," he takes another step and Vincent follows, like a dog at its handler's foot. "First, lend me your power, Vincent. I will need your help as a Child of Misfortune."
Two more steps forward, and that rippling atmosphere becomes oppressive. Vincent's hair stands on end. But Glen seems unphased as he walks ahead. Another two steps, and that distortion disappears as the scenery changes.
No longer are they standing in the empty, rocky chasm of Sablier. Instead, the pair enter into a grand, circular chamber, surrounded by towering, ornate arches. A massive double-doored Gate stands before them.
Of course, Vincent knows this place. The salon of the Sablier Abyss Gate, the only thing left of the Baskerville estate that had once stood on these grounds. The same place where he and Leo had been ejected after escaping that other world in Jabberwock's claws.
But it feels different now, somehow.
Glen calls out for Jury to appear, and Vincent blinks in surprise. Before he can question, however, he feels the air nearby begin to distort once again. A black haze rises up through the stone floor, swirling as it comes together into the form of the ancient, hunched figure of the eldest Baskerville.
Vincent feels his stomach twist. He'd always avoided that decrepit figure, always felt his hair stand on end around them. One hundred years ago, they were there. Taking Gilbert away for days at a time for his lessons and training as the future Glen. Vincent would sit and wait for his return. Gil always seemed a little different after those lessons. But he never once told his brother what they entailed.
Back then, Vincent had always been kept at an arm's length. From Glen, from the other Baskervilles, from the truth. He had never been told what future awaited Children of Misfortune like him. He had never been told a lot of things.
Now, Vincent takes a step back from Glen's side as he converses with that ancient figure.
"You are aware of the situation, correct?" Glen asks Jury. "At this rate, the world will be destroyed. We don't have time to worry about the Core. I must wrench open the door leading into the past."
Jury tilts their head to the side. Those empty, hollow, watchful eyes bore into the man before them. "In order to do that, I will need to consult with the others."
It's not that statement that chills Vincent to the core so much as it is the surprised trepidation on Glen's face.
"The...Others?"
Vincent's never heard such uncertainty to that man's voice. He almost sounds more like the young man whose body he wears.
Jury's head tilts further yet. Those hollow eyes seem to glow beneath their hooded robe as they watch from an impossible angle.
"Yes.... I will need to ask the other Juries how the Story should continue."
Before Glen can ask what they mean, Jury's form seems to fall apart. Their head falls to the side as a viscous, black fluid oozes from beneath their robes.
And then, Jury explodes.
The ground trembles violently beneath their feet, and a wave of that oppressive energy takes Vincent's breath from his chest. There's a wooshing sound as that wave of energy passes through the chamber, and the colors of the world seem to invert, their surroundings painted black.
"What the hell is going on?!" Vincent gasps. But Glen stands tall as he can in Leo's small body, watching as the black varnish of the void begins to crack.
"This dimension is being distorted..." he remarks.
The void crumbles and cracks, falling away to reveal a different chamber. The walls seem to stretch, growing upwards, reaching for the black skies above as shards of reality rain down on the two below. A long, crooked staircase rises from the ground, growing, step by step, as the Gate moves further and further away. A witness box blocks a landing two-thirds of the way to the top.
Inside his soul, watching helplessly, Leo gasps. "this is... a courtroom," he remarks.
"That's right," comes Levi's amused voice behind him. The previous Glen kneels beside Leo, a smirk on his lips and a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "So I wonder.... Who exactly is going to stand trial?"
mike, travis and drunk discuss the following topics…..
r.i.p. crazy jay….
slapping dirt…..
forklift update…….
flo from progressive…..
drunk dresser and pool updates……
after the break, we are joined by pet communicator and medium ann marie hoff. she has a new show on the beyond explanation youtube channel. you can check that channel out here. ann talks to mike’s dogs and eventually shannon’s…
