Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Thirty ~ The Showdown

As soon as Garen said that, the door burst open as Nohr, Xander, Lucius, and Rin flew towards Bartholomew with their weapons out. Bartholomew quickly turned around and held his hand out towards them. Almost immediately, the four of them froze in place as white, chain-like streams of thorns wrapped around their bodies and paralyzed them. "Holy crap," Bartholomew laughed, looking at the group. "Y'all just about scared the hell out of me, charging in like that! It's not nice to scare an old man, you know. Especially when they've got heart problems. At least knock first or something. Kids these days have no manners, I'm telling you."

Garen backed up out of terror, realizing how helpless they truly were against Bartholomew. He and Xander exchanged glances as Bartholomew approached Nohr.

"Your majesty," he chuckled, bowing out of false respect. He locked eyes with Nohr as he spoke. "Well, look at this. The King of the Oregon Province and his gosh darned son just waltzed right on into my arms, of their own accord, too! It's almost like you guys just surrendered yourselves to me! I don't recall finding a leprechaun, but I've got the best luck today! You know, unlike all your friends and family, who are dying and all that."

"You..." Garen gasped with pure anger and shock as he lifted his sword to Bartholomew. "You...!" Bartholomew chuckled as he slowly turned around to look at Garen.

"I thought we were past this whole speech-impediment thing," Bartholomew scoffed. "You remember your speech class when you were a little kid, don't you, Garen? Don't stutter, now. Finish your sentences." Garen's eyes filled with tears, but they weren't just of sorrow. They were full of anger and hatred. Once Bartholomew realized that, he rolled his eyes and sighed with disappointment. "Anger? Now, now, that's not the response I'm looking for here, Garen."

"Shut up!" Garen shouted, but Bartholomew laughed.

"No, no, this simply won't do." Bartholomew stood and intentionally lowered his guard. While Garen didn't advance on him, he scoffed. "Again, you stubborn idiot, anger is not the response I'm looking for. Despair is what I want from you. So, how do we get the proper response...? Oh! I know!" Bartholomew turned around and grabbed Xander's hand, putting his sword on top of Xander's wrist. "Bow down to me and pray to me like you used to during the morning services in the chapel, the way Lenora so willingly did long ago, and I won't chop his hand off." Garen and Xander exchanged horrified glances, and both of them began to sob silently. "What's it gonna be, Garen?"

"Y-You can't do this..." Garen whispered, trying to hold the tears in. Bartholomew simply grinned and started digging the blade into Xander's wrist. Xander started screaming in pain. Blood slowly dripped from the open wound and onto the cobblestone floor. "Okay!" Garen shouted, falling to his knees. "Okay!" He bowed his head and grit his teeth. Bartholomew chuckled and knelt down beside Garen, whispering.

"I am your Salvation," he whispered. "I am your god. You live your life for me, you got that?" Garen was silent, but Bartholomew gripped Garen's hair tightly and lifted him up so they locked eyes. "When someone asks you a question, you answer," he said through gritted teeth. "Perhaps your mental illness returned while you were away from home, so allow me to repeat myself, but I'll only repeat myself once. I am your Salvation. I am your god, Garen. You live your life for me, you got that?"

"Y-Yes..." Garen whispered through stifled sobs. "Y-Yes..." Bartholomew smiled and stood up.

"Good boy," he chuckled, walking back towards Xander. "You see how easy it is? We don't have to make these things so difficult." Without hesitation, Bartholomew lifted his sword and swiftly chopped Xander's left hand off. He screamed and cried loudly in pain and Garen watched in terror as Xander's bloody hand fell to the floor. "Garen!" Bartholomew scoffed with disappointment. "I thought you would've known this by now! I am not an honest man. Hell, I went most of your life posing as your damn father. Maybe there really is something wrong with you mentally..."

Completely out of nowhere, the white, chain-like thorns that paralyzed everyone but Garen disappeared and they wrapped around Bartholomew. He struggled out of them, but then he was caught again.

"What the hell is going on here?" Bartholomew asked, looking around in a frantic panic. Immediately after, Lenora, Maevis, Millicent, and Horace burst through the front door. Lenora shot an arrow through Bartholomew's chest from her crossbow, and Millicent slashed her hand upward, almost like she was throwing something, and out of nowhere, a spinning blade of fire went flying from her hand into Bartholomew, cutting the chains around him. He fell to the floor. Horace lifted his hands up and made two spinning blades appear in them, throwing them at Bartholomew. They sliced right across Bartholomew's torso and flew back towards Horace like boomerangs. Maevis unsheathed a thin rapier and seemed to fly at Bartholomew with blinding speed. She thrust the blade forward, and as it cut through the air, the air gathered around it, forming a thick shield of light around the blade as she stabbed into Bartholomew, over and over again. Millicent kept him to the ground with the white chain thorns, Horace kept throwing a barrage of spinning blades at him, and Lenora did not stop shooting at him from her crossbow. They finally stopped, panting with exhaustion, and Bartholomew was absolutely stunned and paralyzed. He slowly started fading into thin air, and all the arrows that stuck in him, and the chains around him, faded as well.