[Heartless] The Fateful Encounter

I found some inspiration lately in the form of ABD Illustrates. A friend sent me his YouTube channel, and I ended up navigating to his Concept Corner playlist wherein I saw his characters for a still-in-progress idea called Heartless. I highly recommend.

A disclaimer: these are my interpretations of things. While watching the CC playlist, I thought of a scene with the main character having a mission go wrong and also coming in contact with (one or two of) the BBEG(s). Nothing’s set in stone here. Just having a bit of fun.

In any case, preamble aside, let’s get into it.

     It was hard to see past the smoke billowing from the crater. Every time Heartless tried to call out to his friends, he choked on his voice. “Alche—!” Another cough. “F… Flint—!” He grabbed his throat and backed away from the smoke.

     “We’re all right!” shouted a voice past the cloud.

     “Get the crystal and go!” shouted someone else.

     Heartless spun around, looking frantically for the dull coloured crystal. “I can’t! I won’t leave you!” But he needed to find that crystal. It helped take the burden off his magical core; it empowered him. It… spoke to him? It was hard for him to understand, but if he could grab it, he knew that he’d get some answers.

     “Can you really afford to say such a thing with that bleeding heart of yours?”

Heartless froze, and then the smoke suddenly exploded outward, spreading in all directions. Heartless raised his arms to protect his face and eyes as much as he could as he watched the well-dressed form descending from the crest of the crater. This figure was pale, sickly looking almost, and those dull eyes were trained directly on Heartless.

Heartless dropped his arms and began walking backwards. He kept his gaze trained on the figure slowly advancing on him, strolling with unnerving grace, gaze never wavering.

     “Who is that?” Heartless heard followed by a more panicked,

     “Flint, get down!”

The ground shook with a sudden attack. Alchemy and Flint cried out, and the sounds of combat burst into the air. Heartless whipped his head in the same direction as the voices, compelled to run to them in spite of the danger looming nearby. 

     “You—”

     “—should pay attention,” the pale man said. He stopped on the gentle slope and canted his head down. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinising Heartless from afar. “Ah.” Before long, he sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his head. “Is this the true potential of magic…?”

     Heartless frowned, looking at the man now. “What…?”

     “Something like yourself… was created with the ‘miracle’ of magic.” The man raised a hand and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it further away from his face. “Is this defiance of nature something worth celebrating?”

     Heartless stopped and stared at the man now. Though he wanted to go to his friends, he just couldn’t let this kind of insult stand. “I don’t know why I’m here… or why I’m like this― But you don’t have any right to judge!” He pointed at the man. “Who are you!”

The man listened, silently, his expression slightly more bothered than before. He removed his hand from his hair with a fan of his fingers. His hand moved in an arch, but even from this distance, Heartless felt a shift in the air. He had a feeling that things were going to go from bad to worse…

     “I am Alastor Creed, member of the Jury.” He held his hand out at his side, palm up towards the sky. “I am, by all means, more than qualified to judge.”

     “I—”

     “You are dead.” Alastor charged forward. “I tire of speaking.”

     He’s fast!

But Heartless was confident that he was faster. He moved backwards and kept the distance between him and the stranger. He felt the shadows at his feet, and they gave him more speed. This area was filled with still magic, and Heartless called upon anything that would bolster his own body. Strength and speed—those would be the most ideal. He could knock this guy over, get to Flint and Alchemy, and hopefully, get back into town before anything happened.

Something headed his call, and he leapt off his shadow. It twisted into a tight ball of dual-toned energy. Heartless volleyed the burning orb between his feet, allowing it to gather more and more magic until it flashed bright when it was complete. He rolled the ball onto the curve of his foot, kicked it up to his knee, and then knocked it up to slam his forehead against it. 

The magic broke and flooded over his body. It sank into his body, took roots deep within him, and Heartless’ eyes glowed with the new power. He surged to the still advancing stranger, determined to take him out so that he could get to his friends.

But then, it felt like a sledgehammer cracked between his shoulder blades. His body felt suddenly empty, hollow; the magic core fueling his body stuttered out for a few seconds, and so Heartless went crashing to the ground, his body rolling across the dirt. Alastor easily dodged the rolling body. He slowed himself down and walked a few steps forward before turning to stare at the limp young man on the floor.

The magic core sparked to life, and Heartless’ body jerked when it did. The core burned and spiraled, building in intensity until Heartless gasped from the pain. He clawed his fingers into the ground and slowly pushed himself up. Like this, with his magic running at high intensity, he could feel the crystal’s location. It wasn’t far from him, somewhere close to the crater. He struggled up to his hands and knees.

     Alastor sighed. “How sad, how grotesque.” With a quick series of moments, he removed a curled, crystalline dagger. He spun it sharply so that the blade was facing away from him. “But it is my duty to take care of you, and so I shall.”

He began walking towards Heartless again with that slow, eerie grace again. Heartless was still struggling to push himself up, but his core was burning through the life around him. The grass wilted and dried; the dirt turned dry and cracked. Alastor scowled the closer he drew. Heartless brought up his head and watched as Alastor drew the dagger above his head—

But then a new body flew in their direction, hitting the ground and bouncing unceremoniously. The woman groaned; she looked like a porcelain doll. Though, it was a good thing that she wasn’t as fragile; otherwise that landing would have been a lot darker. Heartless, taking the momentary distraction, forced himself to stand on his own two feet.

     Alastor turned his head in the woman’s direction, but he didn’t look away from Heartless. “Alright, Lorelai?”

     “Bit of a rough landing,” “Lorelai” replied, “but I’ll live.”

Alastor’s eyes widened, but before he could react, an extended magician’s cane slammed against his side and arm. Alastor’s expression scrunched in pain as he was knocked to the side. Not as far as Flint would have sent him, but far enough that Heartless felt confident enough to whip around and scramble for the crystal.

At the top of the crater, Heartless looked to see that Flint was fighting the real Lorelai. She ducked and dodged his wider strokes, but when she paused to use her magic, he would concentrate an attack on her mouth, forcing her to move out of the way. Heartless’ attention suddenly shot downward to the turned over earth, and he surged towards a spot where he began digging mindlessly.

The magic was here— the crystal was here!

     “There you are.” Alastor jumped above Heartless, dagger poised for an attack. 

     Alchemy, now transformed back into their normal self, dove across the space to knock Heartless out of the way.

     “Can you use it?” they gasped, sitting up and staring down at him.

     The crystal was calling to him. How could he not?

     “Hart!”

     “Yes!” he shouted back. 

His magic was being replenished at light speed; his skin tingled at the well of energy hiding within. He hadn’t had a chance to properly examine the crystal before its container exploded, but now that it was in his hands, it was more than he had expected. It was medium sized and extremely warm. The magic manifested as an undulating spectrum of cool tones underneath the crystal’s surface. Alchemy left him to fend off Alastor; Flint was fighting Lorelai. He wasn’t sure whether he should help or—

     Get away, something whispered. It felt like a second sense, his conscience or maybe his intuition telling him to Go. Run away.

     “Why?” he whispered as he tapped into that living well of power. 

In seconds, his mind was flooded with faces of Witches from ages past, their powers, their intentions, their strengths. He choked around the flood, feeling more alive than he had ever felt before. The Hungry Ghouls spun around his body, gnashing at the tendrils of power that began to flow around him. He couldn’t remember a time he felt so powerful.

     Go… The crystal was insistent, but its voice weaker now.

Heartless pressed his lips together but decided not to ignore the better sense. He didn’t know who these people were, and just from the way that his powers shut down earlier, he didn’t want to take a chance. 

He felt like he was falling, or maybe flying. The well of power was so much deeper than he had expected. It was an ocean—a whirlwind— a typhoon. It surrounded him with its energy, but instead of feeling overwhelmed, he felt harmonized with it. At one with it and the people who once used it before. Hands fell upon his arms and back, guiding him through the storm, going wtih him as he flew forward, higher, faster.

     “Eira… River…” Heartless’ voice doubled as he channeled the power. It felt like the Witches of the past were speaking with him. “Take us to our friends!”

A portal opened before his eyes, and he could see the exterior of a building through a sunset coloured veil. The hands pushed him forward, and for a moment, he was afraid that he was alone, that the magic misunderstood. But it called to him, it was protecting him. He decided to trust it, and he reached out with both hands to the reds and orange shielding MOJO on the other side.

He opened his eyes as his spirit fell into his body. He was still on his back, but now he was on the ground in front of MOJO’s entryway. Alchemy was panting nearby, and Flint’s fist was an inch away from punching a hole into the exterior wall.

     “Wha… we… what happened?” Alchemy asked, looking around frantically before staring down at Heartless. “Hart! Oh, thank goodness. You’re okay.”

Heartless blinked as he stared up at the sky. This was… certainly the village. He took mental stock of himself and realised that he felt exhausted now. But he could forgive that. They were safe now. He lifted his head enough to look down at himself as he opened up his hands. Fragments of the crystal fell onto his stomach. Now that the magic was gone, the ancient thing finally could no longer sustain itself.

That… resonated with Heartless, but he was too tired to think too deeply on it now.

     The front door opened to MOJO opened. “Now, what is all this?” Moira asked as she stepped outside. Murphy readjusted on her shoulder before hooking its head on her shoulder and purring contentedly.

     Heartless gave a tired laugh and said, “Sorry, Moira…” He opened up his hands to show off the fragments and crystal dust. “But the crystal broke.”

     “Oh dear, well… Come in, so we can talk about it.”

     Heartless looked between Alchemy and Flint before asking, “Any help?”

     “I’ve got you,” Flnt said kindly. He walked closer and reached down for Heartless, who took the overly warm hand gratefully. Admittedly, he felt a bit guilty to see the crystal pieces drop to the ground, but he was too weak to stop them now.

     Alchemy groaned and followed Moira into the building. “You will not believe the type of day we had. I thought this was supposed to be an easy job.”

     “I said ‘doable’, not ‘easy,’” Moira corrected. “Poor things. I’ll put the kettle on for you. Doppel and Glass should be back in a little bit. Let’s wait for them to get in before you say anything.”

     Flint carefully began walking forward, and Heartless looked behind him to the glittering crystal on the floor. “Thank you,” he said softly. But it seemed that was the last of his strength. “I’m going… to lay down.”

     “…Hart? Hey!” Flint caught his friend rather easily, but even still, he felt concerned. Moira and Alchemy turned back to look at them. Flint sighed before gathering Heartless into his arms and carrying him that way. “I’ll take him to his room.”

     “Go ahead, dear.” Moira reached back to take Alchemy by the wrist. “Come with me, love. Let River get you fixed up.”

     “Yeah… Sure.” Alchemy hesitated a second, but then she was pulled along with Moira’s tug. “I’m right behind you.”