#dorhack

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Understand," Dorhack said.

"Understand what?"

"I... Apolo...gize..."

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios University

“The baby is definitely kicking,” Kaeileen declared, massaging her stomach to hopefully calm the kicking down. “It seems really bothered about something. Maybe it’s tied to the noise by the park. There could be some kind of magic running loose.”

“It’s got to be something Lucy did then,” Pia replied bitterly. “You know she’s tied to the demons. One of her boyfriends must have had his heart broken and wants revenge. Lucy’s going to get us all killed.”

“Why did you call Aunt Ginevra, Grandma? Has she seen anything like this in Strangetown? Can she help?”

Emilia ignored Kaeileen’s question, but her face remained confident, which Kaeileen took as a sign that they were probably not in any danger.

“The Rivales family protects its own,” Emilia finally said. “Even if the danger is coming from within the family. We don’t tolerate turncoats. This is something the heir must do, whoever it may be. Pay attention.”

Kaeileen could definitely feel an almost electrical crackle in the air. It called to her and against her will, she could feel it pull her into her dark form. She wasn’t sure if it was dangerous for the baby to do so, but she’d been given no choice. Strangely, only she was dragged into a dark form. Her grandmother wasn’t demonic, so Kaeileen had always assumed that her demon heritage had come from her grandfather, the man she’d seen in a vision that had helped fix her dark form. Pia was his daughter though, and she looked just as human as Emilia. Maybe she didn’t inherit the gene for a dark form or something obvious like that. Either way, something had made Kaeileen shift, so demonic magic had to be being used somewhere.

The sovereign surveyed the scene before her, marveling at the complexity of the spell before her. Dorhack’s daughter was gifted, of that there was no doubt. Her other mother or father must have surely been powerful, whoever they were. So far, things were unfolding just as the sovereign predicted. Kamalani was trying to run and needed both energy to do so and to eliminate the threat to her safety that her stubborn son posed.

And the sovereign’s own plan was about to unfold now that her little Theophilus had arrived. The child was poised to attack just as he’d been trained and Kamalani’s little display only added to the plan’s potential. All she had to do was wait.

“Stop hurting my daddies!” Theo shouted, raising a hand defiantly, which Keiki matched. The two of them stood hand in hand, united only by their shared hatred of Kamalani.

“Leave them alone, you bully! You-You bitch!” Keiki spat the bad word out, meaning it with all the strength she had, even if her dad might yell at her later. “You’re not my real mom, you’re a monster who doesn’t care about anything but herself! Go away or you’ll be sorry!”

From behind Kamalani, Cain and Rose emerged, along with one of the boys who had started at Wanda’s witch program. All of them were in their dark form, their brightly coloured horns gleaming in the moonlight. It was as though the entire extended Rivales family had been summoned here, drawn by the siren call of demonic energy. Normally Cain and Rose would be punished for sneaking out of the house on a school night, but even Emilia could sense the change in the air. They were needed and her dear Giovanni had once warned her that this day might come. The other boy who had been called was a mystery to her, but considering that he’d answered the call, she had a guess as to why he’d been included.

The current in the air swirled around Keiki, pulling her towards the demonic energy flowing around them, but she remained as she was. Theo had only seen a glimpse of what he assumed her dark form was before when they fought, but Keiki didn’t change now when then entire Rivales family seemed called to change form. All of her energy remained tied to Theo, fueling his own power so that he could fight their shared enemy.

“You can feel the energy, right?” Theo whispered to his aunt while the Rivales twins and the surprise witch tried freeing Roman and Abe from Kamalani’s grasp.

Keiki nodded and closed her eyes, trying to focus on what she could hear crackling around her. She didn’t have the training Theo had, or even an idea of what magic could do, but she was committed to stopping the woman who had left her in an orphanage and decided to help herself to whatever power Keiki did have.

“Saren.”

The sovereign froze at the sound of her true name, her excitement ruined by the arrival of one of the only beings who knew it.

“How interesting to find you in this mess. It’s alarming that a child that young knows binding spells this powerful, wouldn’t you agree? I just had to stop by and check it out for myself.”

The sovereign grimaced before she could catch herself. It was never good when a deity interfered with your plans, and especially terrible when that deity was as petty and vengeful as Life was.

“I’m just as shocked as you, Lukas,” she lied, mentally preparing the spells she would need to escape if this conversation ended badly for her. “I had no idea that Kamalani had even escaped my punishment. She’s stronger than I realized.”

“And this pooling of energy? You’re just lurking nearby in case you need to help literal children do your work for you?”

“What are you implying, Lukas? Unlike Dorhack, I haven’t broken any laws in this place. I’m simply keeping an eye on a troubled child with an escaped convict for a grandmother,” the sovereign replied, trying to keep her voice even.

“You can keep using my name all you want, but you’ll never have control over me. Not even if your little scheme here had worked,” Lukas said angrily. “It took me some time to see, but your plan has been revealed. Using innocent children is low, even for you.”

The sovereign smiled tightly at this, but didn’t speak. It was down to a fight or flight response and she didn’t feel like running.

“The little hybrid is very talented at blood magic. I may have given him some guidance, that’s all. As one of my own kind, he’s become a protege of sorts. His fathers wanted to be joined in demonic matrimony, so all I taught him was how to join two people. If he’s expanded that range to include more people, then it is only because of his natural talent.”

And not at all because I asked him to start this.

Pia stared at her niece, looking at the impressive horns that had sprung from her head in fear. All this talk of demons and heirs seemed like nonsense to a rational person, which Pia prided herself on being. Still, there was no denying the change in Kaeileen or the ominous light that was leaking into the house, enveloping what it could like an endless fog. For the first time in her life, Pia seriously considered whether she wanted to be the heir of her family. This was all so foreign and dangerous, nothing like she’d ever expected.

Without warning, Life summoned a familiar looking scythe and held it menacingly before the demon sovereign.

“Last chance, Saren. You can still walk away from this. I’d prefer it if I got to wipe you from existence, but I’m giving you the chance to live. I know you let Kamalani escape, causing her to harm the living people in my realm. I know that you’ve taught a living child to bind an entire family through blood magic and I know that you’ve been hiding here, waiting for the binding to complete to harvest it.”

“And you’re borrowing your husband’s scythe,” she replied, hostility edging her voice. With a snap of her fingers, an ancient sword appeared in her hand. “I wouldn’t judge others while you’re crossing boundaries yourself. I’m within my rights to be here. I may have let Kamalani escape, you’re right, but only so that I could seal her permanently this time.With the combined energy of her blood family, there’s no way that she or Dorhack can escape me again. If I wanted to control and direct that energy myself, I’d say that I’m entitled to it, so this is your last chance to leave. There’s too much energy building now, I have to help bind it or your precious living subjects may be injured. You need me, and I won’t be denied the fruits of my own plan. Kamalani and Dorhack will be bound by their blood relatives and I will be rewarded for my ingenuity.”

“We’ll see about that.”

[luverofralts]

@lifetime-want I solved the murder too, but have no clue about tons of things. Like anything to do with Thea Davis and Dorhack, or why Roman does anything he does with adult strangers, or why Adam Bellany has no relationship with his family and his mom has no memories of raising him, or why there is a teddy bear with Theo stitched in it hidden in an empty room??? Or what the mystery the Bellamys were going to tell the Durants about? Was it Hunter's parentage, because they figure that out for their own when they meet him, and why tell them that at that moment and not Elaine as well? Why does Nathan's bio talk about Ridley??? Someone please spoil me on these because I have played the Durants 3 times with my usual hacks in, with no hacks in and speed running it with hacks back in and nothing scandalous or revealing happens other than fights breaking out. I feel like there is a story with all these threads that I have no idea how to find out about. I've even tried loading the empty lots for clues 🤷‍♀️ I enjoyed the mystery and the characters, but I feel like I'm missing something else

I spent the entire day playing through @arkhelios. I figured out who the murderer was and yet I feel like I don’t understand anything. But I am the worst detective ever so I am 100% it’s a me problem

[arkhelios-gameplay]

And then Roman was enveloped in a cascade of swirling lights.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"What are you doing, Dory?" Thea questioned.

Fuerx was standing by the window mumbling to herself about sports and Wbuna was still putting dishes away. No one but her seemed to have noticed Dorhack's odd behavior towards Roman.

Dorhack didn't respond to Thea's question, instead simply gesturing towards Roman.

"Do you know what he wants?" Thea asked.

Roman shook his head. "No, he just kept gesturing..."

"I think he wants to go for a walk with you," Thea said. "Are you comfortable with that?"

Roman was confused. "Alone?"

"We usually go for walks after dinner," Thea said. "I guess this time he wants to go with you."

"Uh, sure," Roman said. "But I'll bring my cellphone. Just in case." Just in case your weird friend kills me, he thought. A prospect that didn't horrify him as much as it should.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

Dorhack paused, giving Roman a look, as if seeing kinship in him.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

As they took their seats around the table, the room was silent, save for the clinking of cutlery. Dorhack, who had sat down next to Roman, slurped his soup loudly. Roman found his presence intriguing and unnerving all at once.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

You must burn

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"I really don't care," Roman said. "I just want to go back."

"Demons... Rivales..." Dorhack said, struggling to form the words.

Roman sighed. "Demons, Rivales, yes?"

"They... Home..."

Roman narrowed his eyes. "There are demons at home too?"

Dorhack nodded. "... Kill... Your..."

A shiver ran down Roman's spine. "Are you saying demons killed my parents?"

Dorhack nodded again.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

As if on command, Dorhack appeared in a puff of smoke.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

“I’m not responsible for my sister’s actions,” Giovanni said. “Or the actions of other Giovannis, for that matter.”

Dorhack simply glared at him, showing he would not relent. They maintained eye contact for a long time, staring at each other as if getting ready to attack. Giovanni crossed his arms. “Is there anything else you want, or can I go back to bed with my wife?” he asked.

Dorhack gritted his fangs. “We’ll... see,” he mumbled.

“Very well then,” Giovanni said. He thought he saw a little smirk in Dorhack’s twisted face, but if it were there, it had disappeared as fast as it appeared.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

[arkhelios-gameplay]

[arkhelios-gameplay]

There was a lock code of some sort on the door. Roman looked at Dorhack. "Well, how do you expect me to-" Roman began, only to be interrupted when Dorhack lifted his fingers, pressing a code so quickly Roman could not even keep up with what numbers were being pressed.

A soft, machinic hum filled the air. Roman looked around him in confusion, trying to process where it came from, only to realize it came from the door.

"Dorhack... What is this?" Roman asked.

"Home," Dorhack said.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

They walked to the outskirts of town, to an abandoned warehouse with a small football field next to it. Roman knew the children liked to play football. A tiny building, no bigger than most public toilets, was situated there, with a locked metal door.

"Look... inside," Dorhack finally spoke, his voice strained with effort.

Had Roman cared for his life, he might've been scared.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

The rhythmic crunch of sand beneath their feet echoed in the stillness of Arkhelios. Not a single car was outside - everyone were at home with their families, presumably. Roman glanced over at Dorhack occasionally, but they otherwise walked in complete silence. What does Thea see in this guy? He's a freak, Roman thought, watching Dorhack's weird striped outfit and poorly stitched-on heart. Why Dorhack had requested to walk with him was beyond his understanding.