Hol

We arrived at the headquarters of Stirem Inc. Phantasm spoke to the security guard, introducing himself as an old client who was interested in meeting the new manager. Which was true, although I wasn't sure they would believe him in his new form. The guard checked Phantasm's information and confirmed that he had done business with them in the past. However, he still didn't allow us to go through, saying that the new boss didn't have the time for this. That ticked me off, so I stormed up to the guard and shoved the contents of my coat pocket at him.
“Look, pal, it's important that we have a talk with the new guy, so arrange a meeting or something!” I snapped. “Don't just turn us away like a pack of strays!”
The man just gawked at me for a moment, before looking down at the wad of cash I had just handed him. He just stood there, stunned, for a few seconds, before scrambling for his walkie talkie clumsily. As he did, Phantasm leaned over to me and whispered something.
“He who fights monsters is doomed to join their ranks,” he said.
“The hell does that mean?” I hissed at him.
Finally, the guard unhooked his radio and composed himself. He turned in on and spoke into it.
“Mr. Malkator,” he said.
Phantasm froze, and an expression that was one part surprise and one part anger corrupted his face.
“There's a couple people here to see you,” the guard said.
“Yes, I know,” came a young,  confident voice from the other end. “Go ahead and let Mr. Kallaway and Miss Rose in. Oh, and when's the last time you took the Mrs. out for a nice meal?”
“I-it's been about two months, sir,” the guard said, a little flustered.
“Well, you might want to consider treating her a little,” the voice said. “After all, you can more than afford to with the bribe the young lady just gave you.”
My eyes darted around quickly. I couldn't see a single camera or window close enough for anyone to have seen that. Were they well hidden or something? The guard seemed just as shocked as I was, but he shrugged it off and allowed us through. Phantasm entered first, at a fast pace, and I had some trouble keeping up with him as he stormed through the hallways. I guess he alreasdy new where the boss's office was. After all, he was friends with the last manager.
“Do you know this Malkator guy?” I asked him as we hurried along.
He didn't speak for a few seconds but when he did, all that came from his mouth was “I'm starting to wish you had brought your sword.”
I agreed. If I'd had my sword, and its emotion suppressing capabilities, I wouldn't have felt that chill of fear when he said that.
We finally made it to the office and entered. There was a man sitting at the desk, dressed in a business suit, with short, mousy brown hair. He was in his late teens or early twenties, and had emerald colored eyes.
“Hello, Carlton,” he said, in a completely calm manner. There was something off about his voice, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. “And hello to you as well, Diana. It's nice to meet you both.”
Without speaking, Phantasm drew a dagger from his coat pocket and moved forward, but before he had even gone two feet, the man at the desk was gone, and was suddenly positioned by the back wall leaning lazily against it, with a handgun in his hand, aimed straight at Phantasm.
“Now now,” he said. “Before we get into violence, allow me to introduce myself.”
“I know who you are,” Phantasm growled, eying the gun cautiously. “Benjamin Malkator.”
Malkator laughed at that, letting his gun droop a little.
“No, no,” he chuckled. “That's my father's name.”
Phantasm lowered his knife, shocked. As he did, the man vanished, reappearing by a nearby window, looking out it. His gun hung loosely at his side.
“My name is Hol,” he said. His voiced seemed off again, but I still wasn't sure what the deal was.
Without any kind of warning, another Phantasm appeared and swung his knife at Hol. I know Phantasm didn't teleport, because he was still right beside me. He had replicated himself. As the clone swung his knife, it passed through Hol without leaving a mark. Hol vanished again, and then he was back by the back wall, aiming his gun at the clone. He pulled the trigger, putting a bullet right through the clones head. The clone exploded in gold sparks, and was gone. Phantasm slouched a bit, seemingly in pain. Can he feel his clone's deaths?
“Now now,” Hol said. “There's no need to be so brash.”
There were suddenly a dozen Phantasms standing in the room, each gripping a knife and posed in a fighting stance.
“How many bullets you got?” the real Phantasm asked, I'm guessing as a challenge.
Then, a bunch of Hol replicas appeared. One for each Phantasm, and myself. They each stood by one of the clone, and the real Phantasm and myself, with their guns trained on our heads.
“How many clones you got?” the real Hol replied, lifting his gun in our direction.
Phantasm hesitated, realizing he was beat. His clones vanished, as his Hol's.
“Good,” Hol said. “Now that we've reached a stalemate, we can speak as civilized human beings.”
“How did you take this place over?” Phantasm demanded.
“The Archive pulled some string,” Hol said. “They believe they can make good use of the technology here, and perhaps improve upon it. Speaking of which...”
Hol approached his desk and reached into a drawer, removing a small, Japanese scythe I think it's called a kama or something. He tossed it over to Phantasm, who caught it by the handle. As he did, its color shifted to a bright gold.
“What the?” I asked.
“It's designed just like your old guns,” Hol said. “It will shift forms as you do. Now, is there anything else you'd like to asked of me? Perhaps on the Backer's behalf?”
“Well...,” I started, having a few questions in mind I wanted to ask, but Phantasm interrupted me.
“We've nothing more to say to the likes of you, Vision scum,” he said.
He then turned on his heel and left. I hesitated for a bit before following him out. It wasn't until we were outside again that he spoke.
“They cloned him,” he said. “They fucking cloned him!”
“Um, I'm sorry for being in the dark here, but who's Benjamin Malkator?” I asked.
Phantasm remained quite for a few more seconds before responding with “Someone who fought monster.”
“Fascinating!” Came another voice. I recognized it as the Backer's voice. Phantasm and I stopped in our tracks and turned to the side to see him watching us.
“Backer?” I asked.
“So,” the Backer said. “Hol Malkator is a clone of the original Ben Malkator. I suspected as much, but I commend you for confirming it for me.”
“So you're the Backer,” Phantasm said. “You bear a striking resemblance to-”
“I'm aware of who I look like,” the Backer said. “Don't think too much into it. Anyway, I thank you both for your assistance. I will speak to yo both soon.”
Before I could say anything to him, he was gone.
“Damn it!” I said. “I had questions for him!”
Phantasm shrugged and continued walking. I followed after him.
“You said he resembled someone,” I said. “Who?”
“No one of significance,” he replied.
So yeah, we're back at Milla's now. I have no idea what our next move is.

The Backer

I put off the decision of whether or not to help Phantasm for a while. I don't trust him. Not one bit. But I do want the answers he promised. I decided to go for a walk earlier, to try and clear my head. That's when the voice started speaking to me.

“Diana,” it said.

“Who's there!” I demanded, a little startled.

“I am the Backer,” it told me. “You got my note, yes?”

“You're the one who helped us escape the City,” I said.

“That's right,” the Backer replied. I still couldn't see him, but his voice seemed to be everywhere.

“I suppose I owe you now?” I asked.

“I don't know,” he replied.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I do not hold you to any debt, unless you feel that I am owed one,” he said. “Really, pulling you two from the Empty City was nothing special for me. Coulda done it in my sleep.”

“So in other words, I don't have to pay you back unless I want to?” I asked.

“Correct,” he said.

I thought about that for a moment. The thought of getting out of a debt for free was tempting. But that City was literal hell. Maybe not fire and brimstone, but definitely Hell. I had come so close to dying there, and I would have if this guy hadn't pulled us out at the last moment. That might not have meant much to him, but it did to me.

“I think I might just accept your debt,” I said. “But first, I want to meet you. In person.”

“Okay then,” he replied.

He appeared before me. A man with short, curly hair, and a long black and purple longcoat.

“Um, wow,” I said. “That was fast.”

He nodded.

“So, how exactly can I-” I started to say.

“Hold that thought,” he said. “We're about to be attacked.”

Without any kind of warning, a large rift opened off to the side of us. I could see woods on the other side of it. A man stepped through and charged at us. Without hesitating, the Backer raised a hand and a spear of peach colored light shot from it, impaling the man through the chest. He shuddered for a while, and the Backer grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. He twitched for a moment, before going limp. I looked at his chest, and retched. His blood was pitch black.

“You should close your eyes,” the Backer said. “I'd rather you didn't see this.”

I closed my eyes. All I could here was a long inhalation of breath.

“You may open your eyes now,” the Backer said.

I opened my eyes to see that the man's body had completely vanished.

“A Hallowed,” the Backer said “Absolutely pathetic.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“I can't tell you,” he replied. “Now, what were you saying before?”

“Um... how would I be able to pay you back?” I asked, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

“I'll give it some thought,” he said. “Although, I do suppose I could have you look into something for me.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“You're friend from the City should be familiar with a place called Stirem Inc.,” he said. “It was once run by a man named Dr. Welric. However, he died a while back, and a new person has taken over. I don't know much about him, but his name does intrigue me.”

“You want me to find out more about him?” I asked.

“If you don't mind,” the Backer said. “I should be going now, but before I do, I want you to have this.”

He pulled a briefcase out of nowhere and handed it to me.

“Just a little gift,” he said. “Think nothing of it.”

He vanished into thin air. I took a look inside the briefcase and almost dropped it in shock. It was packed full of hundred dollar bills Loads of them.

I shut it and rushed back to Milla's. Phantasm was sitting at the kitchen table. I threw the briefcase into my guest room and went to talk to him.

“What are you, exactly?” I asked.

“Human,” he said. “More or less.”

“I don't understand your powers,” I said.

“I have multiple forms,” he said. “Each with a different power. This is form number three.”

“So what's with the weird energy you unleashed from your wings before?”

“This form has a failsafe that triggers upon impalement,” he said. “That's why I needed you to stab me.”

“I see,” I said. “So do you have any more human forms?”

“A couple,” he said. “One and Four are the most human I have.”

“So could you go back to number one?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I don't know why, but I can't seem to revert to either of my previous two forms.”

“Can you go forward to Four?” I asked.

“I'd rather not,” he said. “I don't like that form.”

“Well,” I said. “If we're gonna work together, you need to blend in.”

He considered me for a moment.

“I guess I can try,” he said after a while.

Then he changed. Before me sat a teenage boy, about my age, with jet black hair. He looked... kinda hot. But I ignored those thoughts.

“You look good,” I said.

“Shut up,” he said. “I can't stand being a teenager.”

“Whatever,” I said. “We need-”

“To go to Stirem Inc.,” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “How did you know?”

“The organization is still in business,” he said. “Their old leader, my friend, was replaced by some child prodigy. This deserves looking into.”

“Yes it does,” I said. “The guy who saved us from the City wants to know more about him too.”

“The Backer,” Phantasm said. “You've seen him?”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm still not sure who he is, but he seems powerful.”

“I've never heard of him before recently,” Phantasm said. “I don't trust him.”

“And I don't trust you,” I said.

“As long as we're clear on that,” Phantasm said, getting up. “I'm going to get some rest.”

“You do that,” I said.

So yeah. I'm teaming up with Phantasm for now. I don't know much about the Backer, but for some reason I trusty him. He's saved my life twice, and he gave me a shitload of money for no apparent reason. Speaking of that, I'm not sure what to do with the money right now. I guess I should save most of it in case something expensive comes up, and keep myself fed in the meantime. We'll be going to Stirem soon, to see what we can find out about this “Child Prodigy”.

Phantasm

Milla informed me earlier that he had awoken. I went in to see him. He was sitting up in his bed, reading something on a laptop. He looked up when I entered the room and spoke.

"That sword is dangerous," he said. "You'd be smart to get rid of it."

"I don't think so," I said. "What do you know about Caledfwlch?"

"Naming it is a bad idea, too," he said. "Gives it a stronger hold over you. But to answer your question, that sword is what's called a Mercygiver. No one knows when they were created, or by who, but they are most certainly supernatural in origin. They gradually lessen their wielder's ability to feel, slowly turning them into killing machines. Eventually, the wielder becomes more a weapon then the sword itself."

"So it's just like the pale guy said," I thought out loud. IT explains a lot. Like why I don't seem to have any emotions left.

"They also have a tendency to cripple one's sense of judgement, causing them to do unnaturally stupid things," he said, turning the laptop to face me. "Like posting their murder plans online for everyone to read."

I stepped back, shocked. He had it open to my old blog. The one I abandoned a long time ago.

"Yes," he said. "I've looked into you."

"Just who the hell are you?" I asked.

He chuckled, and rose from the bed, standing before me. He wore an evil sneer upon his face.

"I'm a bully," he said, still smiling.

My first instinct was to take Caledfwlch and lop this guys head off. But I stayed my hand. I despise bullies. I loathe them to a point that I once spent much of my time hunting them down and killing them. If this guy read my blog, then he would know that. He was taunting me. He wanted me to attack him. And I had no intention of giving him what he wanted.

"Why are you telling me that?" I asked.

"To see if you're as dumb as your previous blog implies," he said. "I want to see how well you can resist that thing's coontrol."

"You talk about Caledfwlch as if it's alive," I said. "Is it?"

He shrugged.

"So, how is this going to play out?" he asked me.

I remained silent, staring up at him. After a few moments, he began speaking again.

"For much of my life, I served a man named William Timerus," he said. "Under his orders, I hunted down and eliminated several people. And I loved every minute of it."

"You're a monster," I told him. I wasn't really trying to be spiteful, just stating a fact.

"So what makes the two of us different?" he asked. "I kill people and I feel pleasure in their suffering. You kill people and feel nothing at all. I suppose which is worse could be up for debate."

Jackass. I think what I hated most about him was that he had a point.

"Back on topic," he said. "I eventually learned that my own wife was one of those I was sworn to eradicate. So I killed her."

I raised my sword to his throat before he could say another word. He just smiled again.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Kill me?"

Believe me," I said. "You're tempting me."

Without a word, he knocked the sword from my grip and smacked he across the face. I glared up at him.

"Who do you think you are!?" I demanded.

"My name is Phantasm," he said. "Now, are we done with the violence, because I would really like to get down to business."

"What business?" I asked angrily.

"Hmm," he said. "Perhaps you have some emotion left after all."

He retrieved Caledfwlch and gave it back to me.

"I believe we can help each other," he said.

"I don't work with bullies," I replied.

"And I don't work with amateurs, but I'm willing to make the exception in this case," he said. "Tell you what. I'll stay on my best behavior during this partnership."

"I don't trust you," I said.

"I know," he said.

"So what the hell do you want me for?" I asked.

"I must return to the Board he said. "The domain of my master. Unfortunately, the City saw fit to strip me of my watch, which I need to travel there. I'll need to find another way back."

"So how do I fit in?" I asked.

"There are others who have entrances to the Board," he said. "But in my current state, confronted any of them could end badly."

"You plan to kill them and use their transportation?" I asked.

"Worst case scenario, yes," he said.

I turned and started to leave. I had heard enough from him.

"If you help me, I can give you the answers you really want," he said, before I had left.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"There are still questions on your mind," he said. "I can get you the answers, but only if you assist me."

I stood there for a moment, thinking it over.

"Give it some thought, and speak to me later," he said, getting back into bed. "Right now, I need to rest."

I went back to my room and started typing this. I'm not sure what I should do. I know I should kill him, or at least abandon him, but what if he's right? What if he can get me more answers? But answers to what? I'm not even sure what questions are left to ask, but I know there's a lot I still want to know... I'm so confused right now.

Sleep

The man has been asleep for a while now. Milla says he'll be fine, he just needs rest now. She removed most of his armor, but the wings are still attached. I guess they're a part of his body. I've also had a better look at his face. His skin and hair are both white, with some black markings. I'm really not sure what he is. He'd better wake up soon, though. I still have questions for him.

Escape

A few hours ago, I heard them. The shadow men, somewhere in a caves. Getting closer. I stood up and drew my sword, preparing to make a final stand there. I was probably gonna starve to death soon anyway. Might as well go out fighting.
“Whatever they are, you're no match for them,” the gargoyle thing said, finally speaking.
“No one asked you,” I said.
“I can feel them,” he said. “there's six of them, at least, and they have powerful auras You may wield a Mercygiver, but you are still human. You can't win.”
I stopped for a moment. Another man had once referred to Caledfwlch as a Mercygiver as well, saying that it was a blade of darkness. I'm still not sure what Mercygivers are, but this man had peaked my interest.
“You know about my sword?” I asked him.
“It's a dangerous thing to be wielding,” he told me.
I heard them getting closer to us.
“We don't have time for idle chat,” he said. “Scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I can get us out of here,” he said. “I just need you to do one thing.”
“What would that be?” I asked.
“Impale me.”
“What!?” I said, baffled.
“Run me through with your sword,” he said.
I thought a moment before responding.
“You want me to kill you so that they won't,” I said. “Then I'll be left to face them alone.”
“Mercygivers can spread distrust in their wielders,” he said. “I assure you, that is not my plan. I don't die easy. Just stab me, and I can get us out of here.”
The footsteps of the shadow men were almost upon us now. I snatched up my bag and eyes the man in the wall suspiciously.
“Make up your mind,” he said “They're almost here.”
I hesitated for a few moments before rushing forward and stabbing the tip of Caledfwlch deep into his torso. His wings suddenly exploded in crimson light, destroying the wall he was trapped in and freeing him. The interconnecting segments of his wings spread out, the glowing red light stretching between them. He staggered slightly, before scooping me up and flying upward. He tore straight through the ceiling of the caves, and into the air. The buildings began moving erratically, as if they were alive. They tried blocking us, crushing us, falling down on us. They seemed to grow taller, so that we couldn't get above them. The winged man began losing altitude quickly. He was losing blood. He wasn't going to last much longer.
And then we were suddenly back in the normal world, and we crashed into a building. I just lay there for a while, wondering what the hell just happened I soon realized that there was a note stuck to my chest. I examined it, to see large, barely legible purple crayon writing, saying “YOU CAN THANK ME LATER -THE BACKER”.
Then a woman rushed into the room, and say my winged companion. She seemed to recognize him. She pulled Caledfwlch out of him and handed it back to be. I helped her get him into bed, and she began treating his wounds. As she did, I explained everything to her, and she listened. She said her name is Milla. That she's an old acquaintance of his. He needs to rest. I'm going to stay here while he recovers. He knows about my sword. I want to know about it too.

It Awakens

It's not a statue and it's not human. I woke up earlier to find its eyes open, staring at me. Just... staring. It's eyes were emitting a soft red light. It just stared at me for what I assume was hour. Eventually, it closed its eyes again, and I took the chance to start writing this post.

The Gargoyle

I've had a better look at the embedded statue. It's dark, so I couldn't make out everything about it. It looks sort of humanoid, with markings on its face. It has very long hair, and is wearing armor. It has these large wings that seem to be made out of several interlocking plates of steel. Most of the wings, along with its legs and forearms, are buried within the walls. To too dark for me to make out its color, but I think most of it is black, or some other dark color. It's pretty weird. I don't even know why I'm telling you this... guess I just got bored waiting to die...