~That Night~
Shit... A few hours of sleep and I'm wide awake again.
Xander grumbled as he sat cross-legged in the arcade. Powder and Vi were still awake, whispering and catching up while Vander slept. He'd woken up briefly to eat earlier, glared at Xander, and then went back to sleep.
Grunting, Xander stood and walked over to the shooting range, the same one Powder had outshot Mylo in when they were kids, and started experimenting with his powers without the mask.
Each ability required at least the thought to activate. After that, it was all mental control.
Bone spikes crept up from the ground until he willed them to halt just before striking the ceiling.
A bone spear emerged from his hand before fading to dust when he canceled the cast.
However, Skeleton Mage, regular skeletons, and golems all required a corpse.
I'm somewhere around level five at least. No corpses here to test Corpse Lance or skeleton summons and...
Testing a theory, he tried to siphon blood from himself, focusing on his arm but felt no response. Not even the faint ping sensation of activation.
Not level eleven. If I'm around ten, I should be able to consume corpses for healing or temporary speed boosts.
"Testing your creepy powers again?" Powder's voice came from behind. She stood there with Vi beside her, watching warily.
"Yep," Xander said. "Necromancy's the proper term."
"Necromancy?" Vi's eyes narrowed. "I thought that was all novelty junk- like those books about Mordekaiser and the Shadow Isles. You're definitely not from here."
"No." He nodded, glancing down at his hand as a different thought surfaced. "And I'm not from the Shadow Isles, or wherever Mordekaiser came from."
"So where are you from? And don't say you don't remember because I'm not buying it."
Portal
A sharp crack of thunder split the air. A line of blue light tore through reality, widening as black lightning sparked across the floor. The air hummed with static and wind howled through the growing rift like a storm trapped inside a tunnel.
Compared to the first time, there were no skulls lining the edges. Just a solid white beam creating the border with a pale blue radiance.
When this happened, however, Vander jerked awake and scrambled upright in a panic. The others backed away, anxiously looking between him and the portal.
"It'll be hard to explain," Xander said slowly. Then, raising a finger, he added, "Give me just one second."
"Wait- wait!" Powder faltered, reaching out as Xander walked straight through the portal.
---------------
~Diablo Universe: Sanctuary - Tristram~
"Welcome back. Have you cleared a path to Old Tristram yet?"
Crows cawed among dead trees, the chilly air was thick with decay. The world looked the same as he remembered, yet disturbingly real. Every detail painfully real.
The world of Diablo: Sanctuary, in New Tristram town.
Faces were gaunt and sleepless with fear etched into many faces. Guards hurried past with full quivers while others dragged the wounded back through the mud. The smell of iron, smoke, and rot lingered.
The layout was exactly as he remembered it. The mayor's wagon blocked the road out of town. The blacksmith's forge but unattended. The brawler loitered nearby, listening to villagers shouting at the mayor. And by the tavern stood Captain Rumford beside Leah.
Rumford looked like a man forced into armor. Scraggly beard, brown hair, eyes sunken from exhaustion.
Leah's red velvet top, worn and dirt-stained, matched the one Xander remembered from the game. Her short brown hair framed green eyes that impatiently watched his inactivity.
And there he was, Xander, standing in his worn beginner's gear despite leveling several times already. He stared between their expectant faces and the shimmering portal behind him.
"How long have I been gone?" he asked quietly.
And why isn't Rumford at the gate...
They both frowned.
"What are you talking about?" Rumford said. "You just arrived. You said you'd help clear the path to Old Tristram. You're not backing out now, are you?"
"No."
He frowned, gears turning in his head.
I've been in Arcane for what- three, four days? Hold on...
Without another word, he turned and stepped back through the portal.
---------------
~Back in the Undercity Arcade~
Powder's hand was still raised, her mouth slightly open. Xander tilted his head at them and they tilted theirs right back.
"Do you have clocks?" he asked suddenly.
"What? Yes?" Powder said, confused. She motioned to her belt. "I've got one and there's one storage."
"Grab it. Quick."
"Alright...? Mind telling us what this is first?"
"I will! Just- clock, please!"
A moment later, she returned handed him an analog clock.
"Time how long I'm gone," Xander said, tapping the face.
Powder nodded silently, pulling out her pocket watch and holding it up.
---------------
He then turned and stepped through the portal again.
They were still there. Rumford, Leah, and the villagers, all in the same spot as though time itself had barely moved.
Xander raised a hand. "Give me a few minutes," he said, staring at the analog clock.
Leah frowned. "Where did you get that? You weren't holding anything a second ago."
He ignored her. The seconds ticked by and it felt like forever. Five full minutes passed before he turned, set the clock down, and stepped back through the rift.
---------------
"A minute and fifteen seconds, roughly," Powder said.
"Keep watching. Tell me when five minutes pass." Xander nodded. "Five minutes over there, only one-and-a-bit here. That's... a one-to-four ratio — one minute here equals four minutes there."
"And where is there?" Vi asked, fists clenched.
Even Vander had approached now, tense and looming in the dim blue light. He looked ready to fight and sacrifice himself for his daughters.
"Another place that needs help," Xander said. "Demons, monsters, angels- the whole buffet."
"So why the fuck are you here instead of there?"
"Uh..." Xander hesitated. "Long story, again. Give me a few minutes to think. I need to confirm the time."
I didn't even know I could go to the Diablo world. And it's Diablo, too... this world's grim enough but that one's a whole other level of hell. Do I- fuck I already said shit aloud.
After Powder signaled that five minutes had passed, Xander stepped back through the portal — and the clock on the other side hadn't moved at all.
---------------
~Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Undercity~
The heavy iron door slammed shut behind Singed with a metallic echo, his trembling hand locking it carefully before resting against the cold frame.
The cavern beyond was silent, a suffocating quiet broken only by the faint trickling of the stream.
His face was scarred, coat singed and torn from the explosion topside. It was the one Powder had caused in their desperate attempt to save Vander as kids. Now, with Vander's body gone and the Undercity in chaos, seven years of work, seven years of trying to save his daughter, were gone.
Seven years spent chasing the impossible.
Seven years trying to reverse death.
Finally, his head bowed. His shoulders slumped and for the first time, Singe, known formally as Corin Reveck, felt truly old.
"Don't give up yet, Corin Reveck. You still have a chance to save your daughter."
He jumped, nearly dropping the lantern from his hand. His eyes darted into the darkness where a figure stood, cloaked in black with shadows bending unnaturally around him.
"That is not a name I've gone by in many years," Corin said tensely. His fingers slipped behind his coat, gripping the hilt of a surgical knife. "Tell me who you are."
A soft, amused laugh drifted through the air.
"My dear man, there's no need for fear. I'm only here to offer you a path. A path to save your daughter."
Corin froze and his heart stopped cold. Behind him, sealed in her stasis chamber beyond the iron door, lay the girl he sacrificed everything for.
"How do you know about her?" His tone became more hostile.
"I know everything," the stranger replied, almost kindly. "Especially about you. A brilliant scientist who gave up his humanity for love. You butchered dozens, perhaps hundreds, searching for the answer to death. Don't you want that answer, Corin? Don't you want to finish what you started and see your daughter again?"
Corin's throat tightened. He wanted to shout, to demand answers, but every instinct screamed that the man wasn't lying. There was no deceit, only a dreadful truth humming beneath his offer.
And a promise.
"What would I have to give up… to save her?"
The hooded man's smile gleamed in the dark.
"Nothing," he said before snapping his fingers.
The air ruptured.
A blood-red portal split open, seething and alive. Skulls stretched and twisted around the boundry, wails muffled beneath the sound of the red bubbling surface. The stench of burnt metal and iron filled the cavern.
From the rift, a massive platform of dark metal slid forward, grinding sparks against the stone floor. Two hulking demons with ember-red scales stepped through pushing it, their footsteps leaving molten rock.
After a few steps, they stopped and returned to the portal, giving one last mocking sneer at Corin before passing through.
Corin's eyes were wide, his breath hitching as he stepped back and studied this strange object.
It was… magnificent. Terrible. Beautiful.
The hooded man's voice turned tender as he stepped close, a gloved hand resting on Corin's trembling shoulder.
"You will do a great service, my friend. For me. For her. For everyone."
Corin's lips parted, his voice barely a whisper. "What… what is it?"
The man leaned in and in that instant, Corin saw something from beyond this world that became permanently etched into his mind.
"Corin Reveck," the figure said softly, his voice shifting and becoming reverent… and holy.
"You will make us whole again."