Irwin's Journey 420: Slice and dice

Basil gazed at the pink-haired woman, trying to determine if she was lying. It didn't look like it. He'd been in plenty of battles, and the combination of weary surrender in her eyes and the fact that she and the other two remaining ships had obviously been left to die told him a lot. There was also something… lost in her eyes, though he could just be misreading that because of her square pupils.

None of that, however, meant he trusted her. Or any of them. Why had some jumped over the edge? Why were they going towards the ground? Why did he recall something about square pupils?

Questions flitted through his mind as he focused on the incoming ships. 

They had only managed to down four…? Five? However many there were, they had last an equal number, and those brought down were done by the two most powerful ships in their fleet. 

And Doomblade.

Thinking about the Galub, he quickly checked to find the horned ex-demon had actually managed to take over one of the enemy ships, bringing their remaining fleet to six, with two more almost there.

That wasn't too bad. Eight vs twenty-five, and they only needed to hold out for a short while longer. Backup would be arriving soon, likely already rushing through the exit corridor. Ten more minutes?

We will lose all the other ships if this goes on for another ten minutes!

"Dammit."

He turned his attention to the pink-haired woman. Three more ships…

"We will win," he shouted. "But if you want to increase your own chances, you will fight!"

They were only a few dozen feet apart now, Scariander flying down alongside them, and he could see the woman's eyes dilate, her mouth opening and closing. 

How, now you are confused, Basil thought.

"If you help us fight, I'll put in a good word for you," he shouted.

"We… we can't!" the woman said, a look of pain and anger flitting across her face. "If we could, we would! But the chains… they-"

She grabbed her head in pain, and Basil frowned.

Square eyes, chains… 

Suddenly, he recalled one of the things Irwin had told him a year ago, as they they sat on Scariander's back. One of the hundreds of oddities the smith had said.

Bloody… what was their name again? Acni? Accen?

"Accenti…" the word came to him, and with it, the story Irwin had said.

"You are Accenti?" he shouted.

The woman was still clutching her head, but one of the sailors beside her stepped forward.

"Yes!" he shouted, his voice jittery and full of fear.

'Badwood close. Break?!'

The imagery and words made Basil look up and around. Scariander was right. He had to go to the others. He clenched his free hand open and closed.

If these were Accenti, she would probably have been struggling with those Guidar chains or something. Though, why now…? 

Whatever. I'll let someone else figure that out.

"Get down there and don't move any closer to the harbor," he shouted. "If you can, help us."

The sailor nodded, and Basil decided that would have to do.

'Keep an eye on them,' he sent to Scariander. 'If they move up from or to our home, warn me.'

Scariander hummed in agreement, the sound causing his entire body to vibrate. He also picked up on the underlying idea and began straightening out and turning. Way more maneuverable than any ship, it took the Chaos Whale only moments to be flying towards their small ship. 

He'd get there in time to help… but he had no idea what to expect. So far, the only danger to Scariander had been the pink-haired woman, but if too many ships focused their attacks on him…

Basil glanced back at the harbor, seeing people readying another ship. Far behind it hovered the other Chaos Whales. He wished the other two big ones could help, but Scariander had been clear. One of them wasn't up to anything, and the other would stay to guard the calves. 

Turning back to the fleet, now only a minute or two from clashing with the defenders, he got a bad feeling. Those ten that had been waiting… the way they moved. It showed way more discipline than the others had, and with as many as they had? He glanced at the ships, then back at the docks again. They couldn't stand to lose this many ships. Not this early in the war. If this were the opening… the first attack, what would happen if they lost half their fleet?

Scariander must have picked up on his worry. He sent a memory that made Basil shiver—a memory from when they had been attacked by Oculithar. 

Yeah, we might not have another option, Basil thought. 

If he did that, it would mean he'd be out of commission for what… weeks? Months? 

He recalled the pain from the previous time. Lying in bed, his soulscape a cracked and ruptured mess.

'Less power. Wood not like Occulithar.'

"Fine. Fine!"

Basil gritted his teeth as he summoned his helmet and sword, then pulled on his soulcard. Lightning coursed across the length of his blade, up and down in a crackling buildup. Enough to take out most single enemies… but not nearly enough to crack through the shields of the white-sailed ships. He connected to the seemingly unending well of soulforce and power within Scariander, hesitated, and then pulled from it. 

His soulscape filled with soulforce so fast that he could sense the walls crack and bulge.  

Basil didn't hesitate and triggered his soulcard's skill.

A jagged bolt of lightning that dwarfed the one he'd shot at the pink-haired woman seemed to materialize out of thin air. One end was attached to the tip of his blade, the other locked against the shield of the lead ship. For a single moment, the blueish shield seemed to hold, then its glow dimmed, and it vanished. An explosion of wood rocked those beside it, causing them to sway and rock as if on a stormy sea.

A roaring cheer came from the defenders' ships, the sound distant but clear.

Basil didn't have time to acknowledge it. He drew in ragged breaths and knew he couldn't stop. The damage had already been done, and even if he went to rest now, he'd be out of the battle.

He pointed his sword at another ship and drew again—more cracks and a growing pain, which he ignored. 

A second bolt slammed into another of the mystery ships, but this time, the shield held longer while those alongside it dimmed. Two whole seconds, the lightning bolt crackled against the shield before it failed, and the bolt struck the ship beyond. Another explosion of wood shrapnel, but Basil felt something wet drip on his lip.

'Enough.'

'Not yet. One more.'

'You might die.'

'We all die sometime.'

'Not today.'

The conversation was almost instant, the images and emotions clearer than he usually felt them, then Basil felt Scariander gently push him away from the source of his power. He felt his knees buckle, and with everything blurry, he began pulling himself back along the chain. It took him ten long seconds to reach the small nest that clung to the harness, and as Basil slid inside, he crumpled atop his crumpled nest of bedding.

'Rest. I'll help.'

Scariander's message came as Basil felt his conscience start to slip. 

Two ships, and I'm out… 

His last thought was whether he'd made a mistake doing it like this, then a pain-riddled darkness dragged him into its depths.

--

"So… you are four now?" Greldo asked Irwin as they were hurtling through the corridor.

"No… not exactly," Irwin said, frowning as he tried to understand what was happening exactly. "I have four bodies. My heartcard was changed by that titan sliver, like I told you, and that somehow gave both my split souls their own shape. This card… it only splits my bodies, giving me two of each, but if I want to use both, I actually have to split one of my selves into two."

Greldo looked at him quietly, his confusion evident.

"Look at it like this," Irwin said. "I have two selves, this one and my big one. Right?"

Greldo nodded. "With you so far."

"Alright, now each of those already had their own body."

Greldo nodded again.

"Now, these bodies were split into two," Irwin said, feeling a slight headache pop up. "That's what that new card did."

As he spoke, he sensed his giantself move both his extra bodies into the smithy, placing them on the bed. 

"Right," Greldo said slowly. "But you didn't get extra selves?"

"Exactly," Irwin agreed. "It's like I have two… empty bodies."

"And you can use either?"

"It seems I can," Irwin said, as his giantself tried it by moving from one body to the next, sitting in a chair, then lying on the bed and back."

"Alright, I get all this," Greldo said. "Now, how come you could move both before?"

"That's the complicated part," Irwin said as he frowned. "I can somehow split my mind into two, which I can do for both my selves. Each of these halves can then move one of the bodies, but… it feels very bad."

"Right, so you are two minds, four bodies, and if you want, you can be four half minds and four bodies," Greldo summed up slowly.

"Yeah. That's about right," Irwin agreed. 

"So, can your giantself move out of your soulscape now? And use one of the smaller bodies?"

Irwin's eyebrows rose as he felt his giantself immediately attempt it. Nothing happened.

"Doesn't look like it," Irwin said. "I think I can only use the cloned body that belongs to that self."

"Too bad," Greldo said. 

"That might change when you create your heartcard," Ambraz suddenly interjected from Irwin's shoulder. "I've been thinking about it, but I think when we create that, we should try to lean into the resonance of your second soulcard, the Ethereal Nascent Soul Clone."

"To… create more selves?" Greldo asked, looking slightly confused again.

"No. That wouldn't be smart," Ambraz said. "It might cause issues with the body clone card. No, we should try to give you the ability to inhabit any of the four bodies you now have."

Irwin stared at the distant end of the corridor, humming thoughtfully. He'd hoped for a few other things with his new handcard, but he guessed he shouldn't be complaining. He now had four bodies, and from how his third soulcard had created a body for each of his selves that would regenerate the other one, he now technically had four bodies. If just one remained, he would regain the other three in time. 

Now I just need to figure out how long that would take, he thought.

"Kid, we need to talk about your next handcard," Ambraz said as he jumped into Irwin's soulscape, reappearing on the shoulder of his giantself.

-- Irwin's Soulscape --

"Between your Titan's Gauntlets, Surging Growth, and now Greater Emnon Body Split, you are getting too many different types of cards. It's not as bad as your first soulcard was, but you need to find something to create more cohesion. It wasn't too bad with the Gauntlets and Surging Growth, but this Emnon Body Split, it's… the balance is off. Don't you sense it?"

Irwin focused on the three cards in his left hand, knowing he'd have to combine them into a single hand soon. The combined resonance they created seemed fine at first glance, but as he focused on it more, he sensed a slight… dissonance between the gauntlets and the body split card.

"How did we not notice this before?" he asked.

"There was nothing to notice," Ambraz grunted. "There was no dissonance before we slotted it, and even now, the two of us only sense it because of how sensitive we are. I wonder if even Brazardian would be able to feel it."

"But it is going to cause issues," Irwin muttered as he felt the slight inconsistency.

"Only if we don't prepare beforehand," Ambraz said. "You need a bridge card, one that sits between the true clone card and your summoning gloves."

"Why is there even a dissonance?" Irwin asked as he focused more on the two cards. Each had a pleasant enough resonance, a song that seemed fine.

"No idea," Ambraz said. "It might be that a true clone doesn't mesh well with a summon card. Maybe it's because the card now needs to handle copying your gauntlets if you summon them with both bodies."

Irwin pondered that while his otherself was still talking with Greldo.

"It makes sense," he agreed eventually before pondering out loud.

"The card cloned my body, and if I summon those gauntlets with each, it might be a bit too much for a handcard. But that should fix itself when we turn them into a heartcard. We just have to make sure not to slot another summon card."

"Not just that," Ambraz said. "I think the other three cards should focus on your mental stability."

Irwin frowned as he tried to understand what Ambraz was getting at. It took him a few moments before he understood.

"It will allow me to split my mind more easily and build upon that part of the body split card," he said, his eyes widening as another thought came to him. "If I can alleviate the mental strain even more or make my mind sturdier, I could use all four bodies to reforge soulcards!"

"Don't get carried away," Ambraz snapped. "Unless you find a way to clone me, you would only be able to reforge simple cards! You only have one soulscape, remember?"

Irwin blinked.

"Why is that?" he asked, looking around and spreading his senses out across his soulscape. "Why do I only have one soulscape when I have two selves and four bodies now?"

Ambraz burst out laughing and continued for nearly a minute. When he finally calmed, Irwin was staring at him, slightly annoyed.

"What's so funny?"

"Sometimes I forget what a brat you still are," Ambraz said, though Irwin felt a deep sense of connection and love from the Ganvil through their connection.

"In the purest sense of the word, you are your soulscape. You can use cards to change yourself, give yourself more bodies and minds, and even split up parts of your essence. But in the end, you will always have a single soulscape. It is what makes you you, what binds all of you together. If you could clone yourself in such a way that you could get another soulscape, that entity would no longer really be you. It would be something else, another being."

Irwin leaned back in his chair, thinking about someone he'd not thought about for a long time.

"What about Gelwin?" he asked.

"Beardyface? HAH! He did what I just said, though with a slight caveat. It's hard to be sure with just what little I recall, as our senses weren't even a fraction of what they are now, but from what I could tell, he did create a different entity. Remember when we met him in the library? That version of him was completely different from the one back on Giard. From what I remember, even his soulforce resonance wasn't completely the same. The thing was… somehow, there was still a connection between the two. I don't know exactly how it worked, but there is one thing I know. He had different cards in both clones."

Irwin hissed in surprise as he thought back to those moments. Although it had been a long time ago, he could picture them perfectly… or so he had thought. Now, when he tried to recall details like what cards the man had, he realized he only remembered the general lines and oddities. The musty smell of the tower, the things Gelwin had told them, and mostly his own emotions—surprise, fear, confusion.

"How can he have different cards in his clones?" he asked, focusing on his own new cloned bodies. It felt identical to the one he had now, but he felt his cards from both, and they were exactly the same.

"A different type of true clone," Ambraz said. "Superior in some ways, less in others. I think in his case, he had a new mind in each, and if one of them died, all memories and things were lost."

"So he had a new soulscape in each?"

"Probably, though I can't be certain," Ambraz said.

"I wonder what happened to him," Irwin thought out loud. "The last thing we heard was that we shouldn't head to the library… do you think he is still alive?"

"One of them will definitely be," Ambraz grunted. "That beardyface is older than anything we have met that's not a titan. I'm a hundred percent sure one of his clones should still be running around."

"Do you think he has more than one?"

"Impossible to say," Ambraz said. "Anyway, let's go and see what kind of metal cards we have. There should be something that we can reforge into something useful."

Irwin nodded as he got up and walked to the giant-sized bookshelves. As he prepared to dive in, he noticed that his other self was preoccupied with another issue.

-- Portal Corridor --

"I wonder how things are on the other side," Greldo said.

Irwin didn't answer, staring at the rapidly approaching corridor end. His mind was preoccupied with a few things. He'd already given many people new cards, but it was time to start filling soullakes. He knew he couldn't do it for everyone. The soulforce generated by singing with the Chaos Whales would only spread out across everyone present if he did and wouldn't help enough. Worse, those who had the bigger soullakes, like Greldo and Daubutim, would take most, and as they got more cards, they would require more.

Could he brute-force it by doing it again and again? Yes. But that meant he would need to be out there, together with them, for many sessions, and he had so much else to do.

Still… Perhaps he should have focused on this more instead of trying to find a way to create cards.

"You alright?"

Irwin looked at his friend and nodded. "Yeah, just thinking about a few things."

"About that new card of yours?"

"That too," Irwin said with a grin. "Anyway, we are almost there. You ready?"

"Of course. I'll drag you with me into the shadows as soon as we approach," Greldo said. "Then we can start dropping guards and rangers on the ships that need the most immediate help."

"Remember to give me the time to leave half of them at the docks in case the enemy has reached it," Irwin said.

"I won't. Still can't believe this plan of Daubutim," Greldo said with a grin. "Can you imagine having someone drop out of the shadows, and the next thing you know, there are twenty guards and a dozen rangers attacking your crew? Let alone some enormous giant wielding a hammer the size of a building?"

"It's a good plan," Irwin agreed, before singing. "I just don't understand how they reached us without the scouts alerting us. We had so many ready to prevent exactly this situation!"

"No reason to worry now," Greldo said. "Besides, it's time to see how bad things are. We are here!"

Irwin saw that his friend was right, and he felt his worries about other things fade. Somehow, this trip through the portal corridor had taken both longer and shorter than any previous ones. Shorter because he was already at the end. Longer because he'd spent most of it worrying about things; now, however, it was time for something else.

As he struck the end of the portal corridor, Irwin felt a sense of anticipation.

The world reasserted itself around him as he stepped forward, and the first thing he noticed was the distant rumbling of combat. Explosions and crashing sounds as if ships were being blasted apart. Which they probably were.

"Cardsmith Irwin!"

Irwin looked up to see a handful of guards at the closed door, swords in hand and looking tense. One of them walked towards him, sheathing his sword. 

Only six… that's no good.

His otherself, now standing with Bronwyn, quickly explained the situation within his soulscape.

"Any intel?" Irwin asked, knowing he would need a moment.

"The others arrived not too long ago, and there was a bit of quiet after," he said. "They started fighting again a few minutes ago."

Irwin frowned, then he stepped back. "I've got some backup for you," he said, and a moment later, a squad of guards and rangers appeared, weapons drawn."

The guard leader visibly relaxed at the sight of the others, and he nodded.

"Alright, we are heading out," Irwin said, putting his hand on Greldo, who was almost vibrating with anticipation. 

The world shifted in a blur of shadows, and a moment later, Irwin was outside the buildings, high above the harbor. The shadowrealm made everything dark, but he was used to that by now and quickly came to grips with the situation.

Ship wreckage dotted the ground, wood, and debris, and unmoving shapes were everywhere. Near the side, three enemy ships were hovering, doing nothing.

In the skies above, only four of the Galadin ships were doing battle, while three times as many enemy ships were circling them, trying to shoot them out of the air. His own Concerto was rushing between two ships just as he watched, the rangers on deck picking off the enemy crew while a dozen guards were using shields, energy barriers, and other techniques to block incoming enemy attacks. The Concerto's shields were visibly low; the only reason they were likely still up at all was because Nim'dor was powering them.

Just seeing the ship he'd sailed on so many years in combat without him made Irwin want to rush forward, but he held back. Not far away, the Ruby's Revenge was entangled with four smaller vessels, which had it pinned down. Also, with shields powered by a rank-five Ganvil, it drew over half of the enemy fire and was visibly weakening. 

Wait, why is that ship attacking its own side? Irwin thought as a ship with a white sail crashed into one of those attacking The Ruby's Revenge.

A towering figure with horns and an enormous figure jumped across the railing and onto the deck. 

Doomblade!

Irwin felt odd seeing the Galub fighting on his side, even with all he'd heard. But he couldn't deny the brute was effective. Something moved in the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Scariander slam into a ship, causing the barrier to almost shatter as it was bounced away like a plaything. There was no sign of Basil, but Irwin noticed a soulforce signature against its flank in the pouch that hung there. 

The world began swishing by, and a moment later, they stood on the deck of one of the ships still in the harbor.

"They need more firepower! Let's get these ships crewed," Greldo shouted.

Irwin was already on it, and a moment later, he ejected a crew of guards and rangers on the deck. Greldo didn't wait for him to say anything as they were pulled through the shadows, arriving on another ship a moment later.

Ten seconds later, they had dropped a handful of crews on those ships that could be deemed battle-ready.

"Those six ships are different from the others," Greldo shouted, pointing forward. 

Irwin instantly saw what he was doing. It wasn't just that, as he looked, he saw they were doing… something. They were together in two groups, two of the ships flanking another on which a massive soulforce signature was growing. The power in it was enough to make his eyebrows shoot up. 

"They are doing something," he snapped. "Get us-"

His words were cut short as a ball of purplish light grew in front of one of the central ships. It hung there for only a moment, then a beam of light shot from the center of the ball. It shot into the Ruby's Revenge, causing the barrier around it to dim instantly, ripple, then fade. The purple beam continued, ripping a large hole through the side of the ship that took away part of the deck.

The Ruby's Revenge instantly started falling down as more hits struck it.

"Get us there!" Irwin shouted.

The world turned shadowy and flashed by, and the next moment, he knew he was ejected, sailing through the air a few feet from the Ruby's Revenge as it was plummeting down. In a split second, Irwin saw the familiar, plated face of Xi'kroak. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Irwin aggressively yanked the entire ship into his soulscape.

He'd never done something like it before, pulling an entire, moving ship into his soulscape, and he felt a massive pressure build up as it appeared. 

-- Irwin's Soulscape --

Irwin's giantself hovered above the soullake as the ship appeared. It was screaming down, and he shot up, using all his control over his own soulscape to slow it before catching it as best it could. The weight of the ship wasn't as bad as he'd expected, which was in part because he was moving most of it with his soulscape's abilities. As he landed it down on the soullake, he floated up and to the side to see Xi'kroak and his crew of Da'xi look around in stunned surprise.

Then his eyes widened as they fell on a burned, battered, and somewhat molten shape that was shoved into the side of the cabin. Mor'vin, the rank-five Ganvil that had come with Hou'dor and Nim'dor, had likely taken the brunt of the attack.

"Ambraz!"

Irwin pulled his bonded Ganvil from where he had been hovering beside Bronwyn, making him teleport to his side.

Ambraz let out a grunt of annoyance, then let out a startled scream. "Mor'vin!"

Irwin watched as Ambraz rushed down, and he felt his friend draw soulforce from around them, doing something to the heavily damaged Ganvil.

As he watched, his soulforce began spinning around Mor'vin, changing as it did. It was hard to be sure, but if he had to guess, Ambraz was purifying it at an intensely rapid rate. A sense of pain and anguish, unlike any he'd sensed from his friend, began pouring through their connection.

"Ambraz?" he rumbled.

"It's not working… he's not… absorbing it," Ambraz growled. "Take it already, you stubborn fool!"

Irwin leaned closer, ignoring the worried glances from Xi'kroak's crew. Ambraz's soulforce, almost exactly like his own, was humming while his own condensed around the Ganvil, but… There was no sign of any soulforce resonance from Mor'vin. 

"Ambraz," Irwin said, a bit louder. 

"Not yet," Ambraz muttered, sounding almost panicky. "He, I…"

The soulforce he'd bound together exploded outward, and Irwin only barely managed to redirect it up and away from the ship.

"NO!" Ambraz roared.

The Ganvil's size expanded as he shot up in the air, then it expanded again, turning into a Ganvil as large as Brazardian had been, with immense wings. For the second time in a short while, he sensed something from Ambraz he'd not sensed… anger, fury—unabashed hate.

Ambraz jumped from his soulscape with such force that Irwin almost felt the tremor.

"What's going on…" Irwin muttered.

Before anyone could even answer him, he felt like something struck him between the eyes, and the world around him, his own soulscape, seemed to dim slightly.

-- The real world --

Irwin fell down, feeling the ship settle on the lake, and looked around. The Concerto was still fighting well, and more ships were sailing in from the docks; they would join soon. Doomblade seemed to have taken over another ship. That just left-

He glared at the ship that had shot the beam, and his eyes widened. 

The other central ship had a ball of light hovering before it, pointed straight at him. He opened his mouth to shout, to trigger his sound movement, when his entire vision turned purple. Something struck him so hard that he felt his entire body crack. A pulsing heat, not from fire but from something else, rippled around his entire body as he was blasted away.

There was a tearing sensation, then pain as if his left arm was being shredded.

The purple light faded, and a second later, the world turned shadowy black as he slammed into the deck of the Nocturna.

"Irwin!? Are you alright?"

Irwin groaned as he rolled on his back, looking up at Greldo, who thudded beside him, his eyes wide with fear. 

"I couldn't get to you in time! They were aiming at something else, then you appeared, and they just swirled around and shot!"

Irwin shook his head, trying to clear it. He felt… odd. Unbalanced, and his first soulcard was rapidly drawing in soulforce as it was doing… something. There was something else. Ambraz was… angry? Furious? 

Just sensing the anger caused his own to pulse and swell, and he felt a growl of anger escape his throat. Ambraz was fighting! He had to-

"Irwin! Say something!"

"I'm… fine," he growled as he pushed himself up only to slam himself sideways into the deck. 

"What?" he glanced to the left and froze.

Where his left arm had been was nothing, only a short stub just at the shoulder. Fear, surprise, concern, and anger warred in his mind, but before he could even hope to control it, Ambraz's fury overwhelmed his own emotions, kindling his own.

He rolled onto his right and shoved himself up on his hand. Staring at his missing arm, he could feel his first soulcard rapidly working on healing what it could. There was no blood, and the pain was already subsiding rapidly.

"Ambraz is going crazy," he growled, shaking his head. 

"I… alright. What do we do?" Greldo asked, still staring at his arm.

"We need to stop those ships that can shoot that beam," Irwin said as he looked around. 

The shadowy world around almost seemed tranquil without all the noise around it. He saw Ambraz slam into one of the ship's barriers, causing it to weaken rapidly.

"I'm going to go big," he growled, running to the edge of the ship. 

Greldo managed a panicky yelp, then Irwin felt himself return to the real world. He instantly switched his body, and he barely noticed how he suddenly had his arm back. 

Glaring at the distant ships, he bellowed a challenge and shot forward, two enormous gauntlets wrapping themselves around his fists.