Well, Well, Well.

Scarlet Shocker stood in the shadowy cave, her eyes narrowing. The cave was empty and bare, devoid of anything – not even protruding rocks or signs of habitation. An anonymous cavern in a nameless rock. Mender Ramiel stood beside her, Mender Silos had departed moments previously, with some annoyance, believing they had failed in their quest already.


“What're we doing here Ramiel?” She wasn't in the mood for games and this had gone far enough.


Mender Ramiel cleared his throat. “I explained already Scarlet. We're discovering your destiny. We're going to see what the Well of the Furies is going to do for you.”


She took an imposing step towards him, and looked down at him. “If I'd had a buck for every crackpot who said he could predict my future, I'd be richer than Midas. I've given you my goodwill and we're here in this...” she looked around and pursed her lips, “forsaken place in the middle of whoknowswhen – and if I don't get an answer very soon I'm going to go find Nemesis and punch him on the nose several millennia before this and tell him that if he tries this again I'll break both his legs.”


Ramiel took a step back and looked quite uncomfortable. “It's... um... not as simple as that.”


“Clearly.” Scarlet's words were icy. She was plainly mistrustful, and her costume was battered and even the high tech material of her outfit was ripped in places, fortunately none too revealing. “But you persuaded me to come here to 'find my destiny' and I get thumped by apparent shades of enemies I've beaten in the past and then a 'guardian' and here we are in a cave somewhere... some.. when and you suddenly appear. With that **** Silos in tow.”


Ramiel was indignant: “He's no ****! He is Mender Silos and has our best...”


Scarlet held up her hand in silence. “I've met him plenty of times. He's a schemer and a planner and you know something? I've never known him win... not even once. His plotting will be his nemesis. I don't need to hear about him. I need you to explain why you've dragged me through this and for what purpose.”


Ramiel nodded. “What I'm about to show you... I cannot explain. Well... that is... not entirely. I can explain bits of it. But this seems to be... perhaps I can put it into words in this way; What you are about to undertake may determine not just your destiny, but the destiny of the future too. Please trust me and close your eyes and relax.”


Scarlet chuckled. “The last time I closed my eyes and relaxed, a Hellion knocked me out with a rock. This'd better be better.” However, she did as bid and inhaled deeply, and as she did, noticed a strange warming sensation from within her, and yet a certain sense of turmoil. She opened her eyes involuntarily to gaze on... something.


Where before there had been emptiness, now there were coruscating lights, twining around her and Ramiel, of all colours, some slow and heavy like old men, others fast and bright like kittens or lambs, whirling around her. But as each passed she felt them giving her energy in some intangible way.


“What's happening?” She shot Ramiel a glance, but held out her arm and a series of scarlet sparks latched on to her fingers and spiralled around her arm then around her torso and down to her toes before propelling themselves back into the cave. “Impressive light show Ramiel but what is this?”
Ramiel grinned. “Feels good, doesn't it?”


Scarlet paused a moment, and nodded in agreement. It did feel good. “Ok... it does... but what is it?”


Ramiel's grin widened. “Why not ask it yourself?”


Inwardly she sighed as Ramiel's reluctance to give anything away, but shrugged and held her hand out once more, palm upwards and collected the red sparks. “So, little sparks, what are you and why am I here?”


“Because you are worthy. We are the Well of the Furies.” The voice was hollow and ancient or maybe that was simply the cave's acoustics. “We are here to serve you, because you are worthy.”


Scarlet blinked and briefly reminisced on all the cuts and bruises and broken bones she'd encountered in Paragon since she arrived. “Worthy huh? Ok I was expecting a hole in the ground, with water in it.”


“That's a well. We make you well. We are simply a channel to make your anger, strength and pain improve the world.”


Scarlet blinked. “That's... cryptic. Care to elaborate?”


The lights spun faster around her and more seemed to appear, overwhelming her a little. She could barely see Ramiel not three feet from her, in the illuminated haze. She held her hand out and snapped her fingers. “Stop! I can't see.”


The lights dimmed and stopped and all moved back giving her space and a better view. “We are the Well of the Furies. We are legendary but incorporeal. We exist to empower those strong enough. We make you well.


“You have proven worthy. Of the hundreds that have visited us, less than five in every hundred ever see us. You are one of those because you have the inner light to see us and guide us.”


Scarlet blinked. “Guide... you? I was under the impression that...” she looked at Ramiel, who shrugged a moment. “I think I get it... you see me as the guide, not the other way around... are you looking for a way to break out of here?”


“Here... not so relevant... but here... has no purpose. Without purpose... we struggle to exist. We need to... augment your power. The more power you have, the more we add to it. The Well exists to Enhance Your Will.”


Scarlet listened and ruminated a moment. She suddenly realised she was playing ping pong between her hands with some of the lights. “I'm not that powerful. I just believe in Paragon. In fact, in a fight, I'm pretty crap. I'm a blaster and electric at that. Why would you choose me?”


“Because you believe. Because you have the Will... That is your power. You believe in Paragon and sacrifice yourself every day to help it, never faltering. You have the Will that it takes to protect what you believe in. That force is power and we respect and need it.”


Frowning a bit she nodded, and thought for a moment. “What about Statesman, Recluse, Lady Grey?”
“They serve their purpose. Their paths are not yours. Your path is not theirs. We give to those worthy of us. Each is different.”


For a moment she wished she'd got pockets she could shove her hands into. “How do I know you can be trusted? What's to say you won't pull the rug from under me? What're you even going to do for me? How much will this cost?”


“You cannot trust us. We are not a thing to offer guarantees. We are not offering you power from us. We offer power within you. Power that only a few posses the knowledge to unlock. Once unlocked, it cannot be unlearned. Our promise is to help you harness your inner well and use it as it works best for you.”


She grinned, a wide grin, a revelation. “You don't need me. I'm not even sure you exist. I get it now.” She turned to Ramiel. “Let's go.”


“Go?” Ramiel looked horribly startled, not so much bunny in the headlights as deer through the wind shield. “We cannot go. The Well is offering to instruct you.”


Scarlet strode out swift and purposeful... a shade of some past enemy attempted to stop her but a wave of her hand and it had never been there. Sparks followed in her footprints but not from the well, these were from her and she could feel a new... confidence within her.


“Scarlet you cannot leave. I forbid it. I showed you this. I taught you this secret, how to get much more power.” Ramiel followed her, almost pleading, a pace behind, until suddenly she turned and grabbed him by the collar and lifting him physically off of his feet snatched him to her 7'2” eye level.


“Listen to me you little twerp,” she snarled into his face. “This has NEVER been about you. This has always been about me. This Well... whatever it is, you don't control it and nor does anyone else. It's not a being, it's a tool. It's maybe a key and those who find it can unlock their inner strength – but it doesn't control us, and nor my short, whiny, impotent friend, do you!” She dropped him then and he landed on his backside, ignominiously.


Ramiel scowled, and cursing under his breath, picked himself up. Scarlet reached out and helped him. “Ramiel... do you understand what happened here?”


“You got angry at me because you're more powerful?” He was petulant.


She chuckled at that and patted him on the shoulder. “No my friend. But ask yourself this; why've you never seen the Well?”


Ramiel was aghast, his mouth went slack and fell open for a long moment. “You... how... how did you know?”


Scarlet giggled. “Because if you'd seen it, Silos would be dust.” She took Ramiel's hand and led him from the cave. “I don't know what happened here, exactly. I mean I get a lot if it... but the Well... it's not a thing. It can't make a person more powerful... it doesn't work like that. It's more like a conduit... a mirror. That's it, a Mirror. It shows us our inner strength, stuff that we forgot to remember.”


Ramiel stopped, and sat down, crestfallen. “I've never... never managed to see it. I don't know how it feels. I... I've failed. I come here with some, and it feels like listening to half a conversation – like...” he paused a moment, trying to articulate the words and remembered something. “Like a... one of your telephone? Conversation. I hear you speak but nothing else.”


She crouched and per her hand on his shoulder gently. “What is your task here? How many have you shown?”


Ramiel thought for a moment, and bowed his head. “Over the centuries, many hundreds. Only a few feel anything... but never like you. And I've never felt anything. I have to pretend every time.”


“Then maybe you need to go back and see for yourself. Go on your own this time. There's no shades to bar your way and you know what to expect. See what is really in that cave Ramiel.” She patted him on the shoulder and helped him to his feet.


He looked up at her and swallowed, nodded slowly and turned almost at a jog. “I will” he mumbled and set off at a fast walk.


“Ramiel,” she called after him, and he paused and turned momentarily.


“Yes Scarlet?”


“Whatever happens, go easy on Silos. We both know he's out of his depth, but he genuinely believes in what he's doing. However poorly he's going about that, he deserves recognition for trying.”


Ramiel nodded, and a brief grin flickered on his lips. “Understood.” He turned and jogged on swiftly consumed by the gloom. Scarlet waited until he was out of sight and then walked out of the cave herself, a curious half-smile on her face. Today was a new day and it was going to be a bloody good one too!

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

I was inspired to write this by a small rock.

I wasn't going to post it, but took a chance and ran it by a forumite here who suggested it might fit well here and seemed to enjoy it.

Clearly, this isn't canon in any sense - it's just one players take on what the Well should have been - rather than what the Canon says it is.

I hope you enjoy - but if you don't, please be gentle

(also, I have no idea why the word "b e r k" is censored by this forum. That's... laughable

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

I really like this story, and that it's a reinterpretation of the Well is only a part of it. I especially like the saying that "it's not a thing." It's such a simple saying, yet says so very much. Yes, if I had a choice, that's how I would interpret the Well, or re-interpret it, as the case may be.

But beyond that, I like this as a story. I like how hopeful it is in some of the simplest things, and how empowering it is not just for heroes with meta-human powers, but for people in general. The greatest power of all is but a mirror which reminds us that the greatest of strength doesn't lie in secrets or objects or other people, but rather it lies in ourselves. And this is an idea I just like.

I admit, read the story in pre-production But I still like it now for the same reasons as then - it's a story from which I walk away smiling. It's a story from which I walk away inspired to make one of my own. And I can't say that very often.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

When I said I was inspired by the story, that wasn't just empty praise. It reminded me about how much fun it was to wrote, and so I wrote my own version. It may not be entirely consistent with the original story here, but I feel it's along the same lines. With permission, here it is:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Rook: Situation contained. And I see you’re already here.

Ramiel: I am. When you defeated the Guardian...

Rook: The temporal frequency distortion cleared up, yes, I’m aware. Prepare your ritual, I’ll be right over.

Ramiel: What is there left to do?

Rook: Security, obviously. Spectral analysis suggests these reflections can phase through solid matters, and I’m not entirely convinced m drones discorporated all of them. I’m still getting conflicting tracker readings.

Ramiel: Be at ease, Steel Rook. The Reflections are defeated, and your destiny is...

Rook: There’s no such thing as ease when you’re dealing with these things. I need shield arrays around the perimeter of the chamber and phase cannon drones covering the all interior surfaces. If this “Well” has been here for an eternity as you say, it can wait another five minutes.

Ramiel: If that is what will put your mind at ease, then so be it, but never forget that it is your destiny that will be decided here.

Rook: I like to think that destiny favours the prepared, Ramiel. And I didn’t bring my entire stock of combat drones to be caught unprepared. I intend to spend some time here, after all.

Ramiel: You do? Do you perhaps have any preconceived notions as to what you will find deeper in this chamber?

Rook: Of course not. I am a scientist first and foremost, and I happen to believe that to approach a new phenomenon with a closed mind is just really bad science. Besides, you and Silos have gone so far out of your way to keep me from researching this “Well” that I have to wonder if you have something to hide.

Ramiel: You misunderstand our intention. We do not seek to hide truths from you, we merely seek to...

Rook: Preserve your precious causality curve, I’m aware.

Ramiel: Stop interrupting me!

Rook: Then stop patronising me. Neither your technology nor your theories are as incomprehensible as you think. I’m more than well aware that I’m not the first person you’ve brought here. I know you’re looking for something to happen by bringing people to this cave, and I’ve agreed that I won’t look into your motivations, but please – don’t insult my intelligence.

Ramiel: You say you have no preconceived notions as to what you will find, yet clearly you have considered the possibilities.

Rook: Of course. While it would be bad science to come with expectations, it would be foolish to not do my homework. As I said – destiny favours the prepared. Speaking of which, my security measures have been taken care of. We should be safe from further incursions for the time being.

Ramiel: Are you prepared to begin, then?

Rook: Yes. I’ve set up my monitoring and recording equipment, temporal transponders are in place and my armour is connected to record all physical and mental activity. If anything transpires here, I will detect it.

Ramiel: What happens in this chamber may be more spiritual than you expect, Steel Rook.

Rook: Spirits leave spectral traces behind, psionics affect certain minerals and magic has a predicable effect on specific electro-magnetic fields. Don’t try to sell me the “open your mind” hocus-pocus.

Ramiel: Have it your way, then. Each must meet his destiny his own ways, for this is the place and this is the time when the strands of fate intertwine with the physical world, and destiny’s course is charted.

Rook: That makes a lot of sense, assuming we’re dealing with the kind of fairy tail science that makes no sense whatsoever.

Ramiel: But doesn’t it, really? Do you not feel it in your heart of hearts?

Rook: Feel what?

Ramiel: Destiny. And, please, resist your urge to argue with me just this once. Look into your heart, feel the sensation and tell me... Is there truly nothing there?

Rook: None of my sensors are reading anything...

Ramiel: Yet you sound less confident in your denials.

Rook: That’s because there really is something here, but I can’t tell what it is. It’s just like you described it... It’s just this feeling, like I’ve forgotten something that I really ought to remember. But why aren’t any of my scanners picking anything up? It feels psychic, but...

Ramiel: Let go of your doubt, Steel Rook. Trust yourself to the Well, and you will hear its voice.

Rook: Like hell I will! Everything has an explanation, and THIS has an explanation, too! I just need to find it.

Ramiel: The Well of the Furies is destiny incarnate. It cannot be explained, it just is.

Rook: Do you even know what you’re talking about? Because to me, it sounds like you’re just stringing words together into things that resemble sentences but don’t make any sense.

Ramiel: Perhaps you are not one of the chosen, after all. Could the timeline have been wrong?

Rook: I’m not done yet!

Ramiel: Yes, you are. You refuse to open your mind to the Well, and thus you cannot hear its voice. You are correct in that I have brought others here, and they have failed just as you have – they simply refuse to listen. You cannot accept that there simply is no explanation for the power of the Well and in so doing, you fail.

Rook: Of course there’s an explanation! Unless... The explanation is that there is no explanation.

Ramiel: Now you are the one not making sense.

Rook: Of course I am. That’s the answer, that’s the key! Look! I’m actually getting a reading now that I know what I’m looking for!

Ramiel: Explain, then.

Rook: If I try to examine this “Well” logically, then I find nothing at all, because no logical energy or being exists here. The well wasn’t moved like I know you suspect, there was never anything here to begin with. There was and still is quite literally nothing here in every sense of the word. But it is in this nothing that the answer lies! That’s what I wasn’t seeing before!

Ramiel: I do not understand.

Rook: No, of course you don’t. How could you? I want to say you weren’t chosen, but that’s not it. You can’t see the Well because there is nothing to see here. That’s the explanation – there is no explanation. There’s nothing here to draw power or knowledge from. “A piece of the world is missing.” That’s what it meant.

Ramiel: I’m not familiar with this quote. Where is it from?

Rook: I don’t remember, but it’s entirely relevant here. The well is “nothing,” in the sense that it is a concept free of substance. It is an idea, a possibility, but with no preconceived notion in it. It is, for lack of a better term, “inspiration.” This is at the root of every great scientific discovery – the inspiration to look at the world in a different way and to see if for how it truly works as opposed to for how you thought it worked.

Ramiel: I cannot say I understand, but I am to assume you have heard the voice?

Rook: No. Not yet, at least, but now I know what to listen for. You were right – there is an intelligence of some sort here. You were also right in that I can’t communicate with it, but I think I have an idea about how I coul. I don’t have the scanning equipment on me, as I didn’t think I would need it, but I can have it delivered soon enough.

Ramiel: Our time is not infinite here. Sooner or later, the Reflections will return, and I cannot keep the portal open indefinitely.

Rook: Well, it’s a good thing I set up a defensive perimeter, then, isn’t it? And don’t worry about the time portal. I have my own way back home. In fact, you can head on back to Silos and tell him to not bother coming down here. He couldn’t comprehend this.

Ramiel: You have access to time portal technology, then?

Rook: Let’s just say I have my own solutions to certain common problems. My own proprietary solutions that you really don’t need to know the specifics about. Company secret, you see.

Ramiel: I see... If we must leave it at this, then may I ask one final question before I leave you to your “science?”

Rook: Of course. Just don’t expect to understand the answer.

Ramiel: Exactly what is it that you think you have found here, and why do you believe you alone are entitled to it?

Rook: What I’ve found here is an abstract concept written into the very shape and state of the matter and energy around me. It is an idea that I alone can see because I alone can wrap my mind around this sort of irrational concept while still keeping it within a rational frame of reference. In the very simplest of terms, I’ve found a phenomenon that’s far too complex for you to understand.

Ramiel: You think this little of me?

Rook: Yes and no. What I’ve found here has intelligence, and it will present a different face to different people who see it. To most, it looks like nothing because they are not ready to comprehend it. To me, it represents an idea, even a set of ideas – all the questions I could never answer, I can solve with the right ideas here. To someone else, it could be a voice, or light, or a feeling of power.

Ramiel: I see.

Rook: No, you don’t. That’s the most fascinating thing. You had me convinced that this “Well” is a source of power, but the way I see it, it’s a source of answers to those who can ask the right questions. What would your questions be, Ramiel?

Ramiel: ...

Rook: Precisely. Go back to Silos and tell him what you’ve found. And keep him out of my cave until I’m done with it. His presence just serves to complicate things. I have a lot of work to do here before I can truly parse the abstraction of these ideas, but I think things are about to get very, very interesting for me.

Ramiel: Very well. But do you truly believe that your machines will give you the answers that have eluded so very many others across the infinite expanse of time?

Rook: “Answers” is precisely what the Well is. That’s what you and the others fail to grasp. It’s not power that you’ll find here, it’s ideas, and right now, I have a pretty good idea how to communicate with this thing. If I can just stop explaining this to you over and over again, this might not take so long!

Ramiel: Point taken. I will inform Silos and relay your request for privacy.

Rook: You can also relay that I have my turrets set to shoot anyone who’s not me.

Ramiel: Noted. Godspeed, Steel Rook. Perhaps you will be our salvation after all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Very cool Sam.

I like the way you've managed to give the Well a different "face" to everyone who perceives it - a way to meet the specific needs of the individual whilst still maintaining the continuity.

I guess we can just dream, right?

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Dreams are what City of Heroes is all about. I'm in this game living the dream of something I've always wanted to have, but that no other game can give me - my own characters by my own design

Also, I tried to present Ramiel as overly-elaborate but reserved, as well as ill-informed. You had the perfect angle in your story, I think - Ramiel is the one who takes us to the Well, but he doesn't fully understand it because he hasn't been chosen. He isn't a leader, but rather a follower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Both these stories are great. I mean i don't really get the in-game meaning of the well, but both of your stories gave me a new light about the story of the well. I would try to write a story of my own about the well...but I'm only good with poetry or song lyrics >.> Maybe the Devs should take in some of the players' own personal opinions and back stories of the Well and try to make a new story based off of them. Again, I want to say great job and thank you

By the way, use spell check just poking in for some laughs

Not to use the pool power Raise the Thread, but I just barely found this. (As seen from my Join Date vs Post Count, I'm just not someone who can come to the forums much, so please forgive.)

Samuel, yours I like. I mean it, it was like watching a scientist do an analytical breakdown of guided meditation and making sense of it.

Scarlet, yours I Love. I wanted to post to thank you for this, and honestly a little bumping will help others find it. I find the hope and personal responsibility of self-empowerment truly inspiring. This is really a beautiful way to see any world, especially one I spend so much time in.

So much so, it's managed to touch a bit on how I see the "real" one too, to a surprisingly personal level. In a way, sitting here in the afterthoughts, I'm wondering whether I might do good to spend a few moments finding my own well inside me, and be a little bit more of a hero to those in my tiny corner of life. It's just the way you wrote the thoughts and feelings, it was easy to feel them internally, I suppose.

Regardless... to both of you: Thank you, sincerely.

I read these tales a while ago and really enjoyed the authors' take on Well lore. Today, having a few minutes to spare and feeling pretty despondent about the endgame story, I too decided to play around with an IC perspective of the Well 'reveal' scene using my namesake, Dante. I found the result to be somewhat more irreverent than I intended but hey, I had fun writing it.

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The smoke cleared and through it, the lanky figure of Dante Carver stood, eldritch energies receding into the background at his command. Hurrying behind him, eager to see what lay ahead of them past the guardian came Mender Ramiel.

“You know, I met Minos once,” stated Dante as he watched the spectral minotaur vanish back into the ether. “Funny guy, had a thing for bourbon biscuits. Shall we get this over with?” He turned to face the golden doors beyond which lay the mythical Well of the Furies. If you believed in that sort of thing, which the archmage didn’t.

“You do not seem eager to meet your destiny,” stated Ramiel, observing his companion’s relaxed demeanour.

Dante shrugged. “I’ve met more destinies than you’ve had hot dinners,” he stated, “they get a bit boring after a while. It’s right up there with when the villain declares ‘prepare to meet thy doom’ or when they turn into a snake, which never helps by the way.” He laid a hand on the door and pushed. “Besides, I don’t believe in destiny anyway.” And with that he swung the doors wide and stepped through, the Mender in tow.

As light seeped into the ancient cave, Ramiel let out a gasp at the sight but his awe was shattered by the laughter of the ancient sorcerer as he strode into the room, utterly unsurprised. “So, here we have an ideal fixer upper opportunity,” he declared to the empty room. “One ex-Well room, one careful owner, plenty of space for conversion or for Menders seeking to raise up the next generation of Menderettes. Comes complete with a nice golden glow even if it does remind me of that bit where Aeris copped it. Did you ever see that? Very sad.”

“But… but the Well!” gasped Ramiel, “It’s gone!”

Dante just smiled, pushing his wireframe glasses back up his nose. “Oh yes, the previous owners weren’t joking about taking all of the furniture with them. Oh well, never mind.” His grin in the dim light of the cave seemed almost insane as if missing out on humanity’s greatest hope was somehow a big joke.

“But without the Well… we’re powerless!” lamented Ramiel. “How will we stand against the Praetorians, against Emperor Cole, against the B…” He stopped suddenly, as if remembering himself. Dante helped him complete his sentence.

“The Battalion?” he asked. He saw Ramiel’s confused look and continued. “Your lovely Tesseract, called me a cave dweller so I asked her out to dinner. Did you know she talks in her sleep? Anyway, try not to worry, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” He patted the Mender’s shoulder and turned to leave.

“But don’t you care?” snapped Ramiel. “We need the Well! We need to embrace its power, to convince it to anoint us its champions! Don’t you seek its power? Don’t you wish to ascend to greatness?”

Dante looked confused. “But I’m already great,” he stated. “As is anyone who uses their potential for humanity. Why on earth would we need to have someone slap us on the back and say ‘there’s a good boy, have a cookie’? We’ve done pretty well without the Well interfering in our lives up until now, why would we want it involved now?”

Ramiel had not seen this before. Of all the times he had witnessed these events in his addled mind, he couldn’t remember someone so flippant about missing the Well. “So you would be willing to miss out on more power? On the adventure of ascending? Of becoming god-like?”

“Tip to the wise,” replied Dante, “never absorb an energy source bigger than your own head, it never ends well. Besides, who’d want to be a god anyway? I’ve met a number of them, bunch of tossers. The more you stick your nose into the affairs of gods, the more you run into bossy types who argue over who’s watching over humanity this decade. You’ve got one stuck in your Citadel these days and I’ve got to say, no-one that tall should wear a toga that short. It’s very disturbing.” He looked as if he could go on but he relented. Instead, he approached Ramiel and smiled. “Ramen, my old noodle, how old are you?”

The Mender paused, not sure how to answer the question. Time travel mucked everything up so much. “Um, something like… I dunno, about 1,722? At a guess?”

“One thousand, seven hundred and twenty two,” repeated Dante, “and you’re still chasing the magic ring that will slay the evil dragon. I’m 2,023 years old and I’ve been using magic for over two thirds of that time. And all the sand, the magic circles, the funny words and bat guano… they’re all just a focus, a place to put our will or intentions. A locus to bend your willpower around. The Well is the same, it’s a crutch, an invisible god to put your faith in. That’s why I knew it wouldn’t be here at the end of a puzzle a hippie and his Great Dane could find. It’s like chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and in the end, it’s a red herring.” He playfully punched the Mender on the shoulder. “Been a fun adventure though, let me know when the next one is.”

Mender Ramiel stood speechless for a second or two while the lanky man in the embroidered, scruffy brown overcoat turned away from him. He eventually found some words. “But what about you? What will you do now?”

Dante turned back to face him and shrugged. “Me? Keep being awesome I guess. Keep fighting the good fight, never give up, never surrender, I aim to misbehave and all that lot.”

“And Praetoria?”

His question caused another shrug. “Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure? No idea, I think that world will balance itself out soon. You ever seen what happens when evil prevails over a world? Take a look at your symbol Mender, it might give you a clue. I prefer to focus on this world these days anyway.”

“You care so little,” came Ramiel’s lament. If he had offered a direct insult, he couldn’t have cut deeper. The archmage closed in on him and his expression darkened, offering a glimpse of the hurt and pain and sacrifice that had come from over a thousand years of using the dark arts in the defence of humanity. But his voice was calm, yet cold, without malice, but firm.

“It is said that all higher civilisations kill their gods,” he stated. “It’s not such a bad idea. In the end, we turn away from them when we realise that our power is our own, it belongs to no-one else. That all the gods are there for is for us to pour our devotion into in the hope of gaining a modicum of power. But we don’t need them. We don’t want them. We will face whatever threat comes to our world on our terms, our rules. If you ever do find the Well Ramiel, you can tell it that it’s either with us or against us. But most of all, you can tell it that its days are numbered. Once humanity works out that we’ve evolved past it, it will wither and die like all the other countless gods and pantheons that have passed before.”

He straightened his jacket and his expression softened, replaced by his customary charm. “Speaking of which, I should split. Something bad’s about to happen in Astoria and I need to be there.”

“To stop it?” questioned Ramiel.

“To stand in its way,” replied Dante. “That is what heroes do after all. Be excellent to each other Ramiel.” And with that, he was gone, the shadows forming around him as he disappeared into the ether.

All that was left was the disappointed Mender in the ruins of a dying religion.