Happy Blog Day Everyone
Big day today, not only do we have the final full Chapter of Phantom Dawn (well, depending on how long the epilogue is of course!), but I also want to talk about the last 3 years of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz (yes, it has been that long already, pretty sure I'll blink again and by standing at their 5 year anniversary).
With that said, I guess we'd better start quickly!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Let's get the obvious out of the way. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, there is nothing wrong with whatever device you're looking at this on. I screwed up the picture on this one quite badly (a scanner, my kingdom for a scanner!)
That aside though..
3 years eh? Crazy how time flies. Only felt like yesterday that I was sat there wondering how to drum up interest in Brennan and Riz. Don't think it worked in that regard somewhat. However, for a project that I thought would have ended at the end of the first year, let alone survive 3, it's been a ride.
This is evident in how long it takes me to think about new story ideas (usually the day before I need to draw it!). Some days the whole thing will magically appear in my head, others, the final panel will be the only one that appears. Then there's the days where no ideas form, leaving me a bit stranded. Though, on talking about that, there is still a computer file that I was intending on using to keep track of what I've done and used to store ideas. I believe there was a few that haven't been adapted yet.
Also fun looking back at the frequency of characters as while Brennan and Riz are more or less mainstay, with even Brennan taking the occasional week off, there's still people who don't crop up as much as they should. This list includes the likes of Valarie who is still the third most featured character (at least I think it is, haven't actually compared her screen time with Gallows who featured heavily in the multipart epic from the strips very first year) and Luna who has sadly been very underused, appearing in a grand total of 2 strips...both Valentines ones at that!
I think that my goal for this year, will be to try to get more appearances in for these characters (aside from Alice, she's far better being a character left in the shadows). Things have progressed well from the first year, but there's still more to do.
Here's to year 4.
Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn Chapter 22
Well, here is, the penultimate installment of Phantom Dawn, almost to the week when the series started last year. The schedule has had its ups and downs but we've made it here all the same. As stated above, there's still the epilogue to come, and then a post-mortem about the series, which I'm not going to lie, is going to be extremely brutal.
In terms of where we are story wise, well, the fighting has ended, and our heroes have prevailed but what lies in the aftermath? And what will Rose’s path forward be?
Read on to find out!
Phantom Dawn Chapter Index
Chapter 22
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Chapter 22: Aftermath
Everything was white, and the voice plaguing Rose was nowhere to be found at all. Instead, she found herself looking at two figures hidden in silhouette. They stood side by side in a loving manner, and though she couldn't see their faces, she knew that they were looking at her with that same love.
“You're already making a difference…” One of the figures said, evidently a man. “...We've got nothing to worry about it seems!” He was jovial in nature, but there had been a gap in what he was saying, as if part of the audio was missing.
“Remember…We'll always be here for you, no matter what you do or where you go…We both love you. Now go…don't look back. We'll be waiting…” As before, there were gaps in what she said.
Something had changed in Rose though, as this time, as the figures faded from view, she called out after them.
“Mum! Dad!” She reached out before they were fully gone, her fingers unable to catch them, instead though, they fell on something else. The same sword she'd seen in her previous dream.
It was at this point that Rose woke up, and found herself in a bed. It was light outside but the sky was as gloomy as ever. Tried as she might, she couldn't remember a thing about how she got to the bed or anything about how the fight ended. She had been patched up by hands unseen.
“Finally awake, longest I think I’ve seen you rest in the past few days,” Kurz stood in the door way, wearing similar bandages to herself.
“Kurz! How long have I been out for?” she enquired.
“A good day and a half? Might have been longer as me and Mason weren’t exactly up and moving about instantly.”
“Mason? Where is he now?”
“Closer than you’d probably think?” Kurz said, trying to appear cryptically.
“I don’t understand?”
“He’s sleeping on the floor next to your bed. We’ve been taking turns keeping a watch over you, and as you can see, he couldn’t even do that. WAKE UP YOU LAZY OAF!” Kurz shouted suddenly, taking a step nearer to where Mason had evidently passed out.
“What! I’m awake! I’m awake!” Mason jolted up right, his wounds bandaged as well. After the shock had worn off, Mason noticed that Rose was awake. “Mi’lady! How sweet does a angel sleep?”
“Mason, we talked about this, the poetry is creepy and not how people generally wanted to be greeted in the morning,” Kurz said with some snark.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, I was just glad that she’s fine, you know?”
“Well, let’s give her some space now that’s she’s awake so she can get herself sorted. Some of the woman in town donated some more clothes to you since you’ll probably want to get changed. Some have also said they can fix what you’re wearing if you’d like, as a way of thanks,” Kurz stated.
“Thanks? But why?” Rose asked.
“Because you saved the town, well, you and those two other monsters that ended up working together,” Mason added.
The mention of those two monsters did set off a memory, one of surprise seeing two creatures that had previously been trying to eat her, suddenly uniting and working alongside each other to protect her.
“What happened to them?” She asked in a worried tone.
Kurz and Mason exchanged a look at each other.
“Get yourself sorted, and we’ll show you,” Mason explained.
Mason and Kurz had left her alone while she got ready, exchanging the clothes she had been wearing for new ones, though their condition varied greatly. As she was getting dressed again, she caught sight of her own wrists, and another memory fragment of the night before burned its way into her mind. This one however, wasn’t as pleasant as the previous one, it was of the energy chains that had formed around her wrists. It ignited a burning pain that wrapped itself in a coil. She had wanted to ask about how they all survived that encounter, she could recall the faint image of herself defeated, her strength failing her. Yet waking up in a town that had clearly not been destroyed, gave her the impression that things had taken a different turn, but there was an asterix on that, one that gave her pause. The pain she was feeling in her wrists seemed connected to another feeling in her head, this one being a dull ache that lingered in the recesses of her mind. Had she done something to seal their victory? If that was the case, then why hadn’t they said anything about it? Why hadn’t they been boasting about the incredible feats she’d undertaken to allow them to continue living. Was she grateful she was alive? Of course, but she also had no control over what happened. A power like that was not reliable. Thinking about it more, she wondered if there was a link between it and that voice she heard in her head. No sooner had she thought that, there was a distant laughter echoing around, causing her to shudder.
She looked into the mirror and saw a faint image of a mask over her face, but it disappeared when she blinked. She grabbed the sides of it and held it tight, wanting to see if any answers were forthcoming from it. All she saw now was her own frantic face. She turned away, and headed to the window. It looked like Kurz and Mason had brought her back to the same building as before, overlooking the town. She doubted that any of the answers she sought were anywhere here.
A knock at the door postponed anything else.
“Yes?” Rose asked.
“It’s just me,” Neal said, poking his head round the door. “Kurz mentioned that you were awake.” The old man looked relieved.
“Yeah…” Rose replied, her voice trailing off. “Was there…Was there something you wanted?”
“All I wanted was to make sure you were okay. It's been a wild few days hasn't it. To think that so much could happen in such a short amount of time. We all owe you our thanks.” Neal was still standing by the door, not wanting to intrude on Rose's personal space. “It looks like our meeting was fated,” he added somberly.
Rose took in all that he had said but didn't know how she was supposed to reply. Even the simple question of if she was okay had become complicated. Physically, aside from a few bumps and scraps, she was fine. She was well enough to move around without any noticeable impairments. Mentally speaking however, she was more of a mess. The precious few memories she had recovered were balanced on the ones that had gone missing from the night before. Then there was the sword, she'd seen enough glimpses of it in her head to know it was important. It'd been grabbing the sword that Mason had given her that caused a stir in the first place, so if she was to find this other weapon, one that she felt was hers, it might unlock more memories. However, she knew that she wouldn’t find the sword here, not in this town. She didn’t know how to tell Neal that though. Their lives had been thrown together, almost literally, and he had taken her in, and sheltered her. She couldn’t ask him to do anything else, he’d done enough.
Neal saw the look on her face, as though she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
“It’s okay, you can take your time. Knowing you’re okay is good enough for me. You’ve done tremendous good here and there’s something important you should see, though I guess Kurz and Mason want to show that…I was surprised!” Neal laughed.
“You were surprised? What is it that they want to show me?” Rose asked.
“It’ll be best if you saw it for yourself. I’ll be downstairs with them when you’re ready.” With that, Neal left.
Alone again, Rose was bewildered about what the surprise could be, offering a momentarily uplift to her mood, before she realised that she’d have to tell the others about her decision, unknowing what they’d say about it. By all accounts, they didn’t have the rights to interfere with her choice, especially since they had only known each other for a couple of days at best, but in that time though, a lot had happened, and a lot of bonds had been forged under that pressure. She may not have had to say anything, but she figured it was best. She went to the window again and gazed out, wondering if the chaotic sky was a mirror for herself right now, and if the other her, the person she used to be, would have done anything differently. Of course, she was never going to get an answer to that. With nothing else that needed doing, she took a last glance around the room, picked up the jacket she had chosen from the clothes offered by Kurz, and then left the room.
Downstairs, Rose found Neal, Kurz and Mason waiting. She was amused that each one was in a pose that she thought fitted their personalities quite well. Neal sat waiting patiently, his hands resting on a walking stick, his eyes closed in quiet concentration. Kurz stood leaning against a wall, his arms folded, though she did see a flutter of movement from his eyes as she was coming down the stairs, her arrival not going unnoticed. Mason was pacing, his mouth going like he was reciting something silently.
“I’m ready,” she announced, causing everyone to turn to her. “What is this thing you wanted to show me?”
“Mi’lady, my sweet angel, to see you moving again is one of life’s pleasures,” Mason said softly.
“Yes, Rose, he has been rehearsing that since the end of the ordeal,” Kurz interrupted at the end.
“Well, at least I’m trying to be cultured!”
“That’s not how I’d describe your poetry attempts. I’d say it’s more akin to torture. Besides, I don’t think that’s really the first thing she needs once she’s woken up, you know?” Kurz pushed himself off the wall, and patted Mason on the back. “Besides, I think she needs to see them now, not after more attempts at bad poetry from you.”
“I thought it was quite nice actually,” Rose said, giving a little smile, one that immediately melted Mason’s heart.
“T-Thank you! All the best words I can think of pale next to you!”
“You do realise she’s just being nice, don’t you? I don’t think it’s even possible for her to say anything bad,” Kurz commented.
“It means she knows how to handle people better than either of you,” Neal laughed, catching the ire of both Kurz and Mason.
“I know how to handle people just fine, thanks!” Kurz snapped back.
“Well, actually I can’t say anything about that…” Mason mumbled, looking ashamed for a moment.
“Oh, you’re all here now?” Si said as he poked his head through the door. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting? I’m a busy person now! My time is valuable.” He stuck out his chest, with a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
“Need I remind you that you’re riding on what we did?” Kurz pointed out. “So, unless you want us to tell everyone exactly what your role in the events really was, I’d suggest you pipe down.”
“Don’t do that! Look, all I did was said that I was really good friends with everyone that saved the town, and that I may, MAY, have orchestrated the events that led to victory. Everything else that’s happened is on the other people,” Si tried to defend himself, but all aside from Rose, were unmoved by what he was saying.
“Okay…Can we just get going and then I can get out of your hair, you can get out of mine?” Si bargained.
“We were going to do that anyway?” Kurz told him, in no uncertain terms.
“Good…then. Follow me, we’ve set them up with some food that isn’t people and it seems to be working, I mean, no one is dead yet,” Si gestured for everyone to follow him and they did.
The walk was brisk, and Rose noted that the atmosphere around the town had changed, there was a lot of tension when the Heaven’s Rod failed, and it didn’t dissipate at all during any of the attacks that followed. Now, the burden had lifted, and despite the sky still looking oppressive, that mood was nowhere to be found. Feeling more at ease, her smile came naturally. While some people were out, and greeting the group with cheers, it seemed that the majority of them were up ahead.
“You’re going to love this, Rose,” Kurz told her, and despite his normally stoic nature, he too was smiling.
Rose quickly discovered what he meant, as she saw three similar sights. There were the two monsters that had come to her aid, the T-rex-like beast and the one that resembled a giant spider, and hugging each of them in turn, was the little girl, Cecily. She had gathered up some of her friends and had shown them that despite appearances, the creatures now seemed docile.
The crowd parted as Rose and her group became noticed, allowing her to get right up close with her monstrous allies. The monsters looked at her, and the spider-like one seemed to bow down to her, while the T-rex one stepped forward to nuzzle her head. It was clear that they were in deference to her. In a manner known to no one, not even herself, Rose had tamed these creatures, even limiting the effect the Phantom Dawn had on them, even with as the baleful light glared down on them.
“We thought they’d run off, after that last fight. But they didn’t, in fact, we didn’t even think they were going to let us carry you off at first,” Mason explained.
“They’ve also protected the town again while you were unconscious, as some thankfully smaller creatures tried to attack, but these two fended them off easily. Seems like you’ve given the town two extra protectors till they’ve got all the Heaven’s Rod back in order,” Kurz took his turn in detailing the situation, much to Rose’s surprise.
Reaching out to stroke the T-Rex creature, she felt that this added more weight to her decision to leave, she wasn’t leaving the town defenceless, no, she’d given them a unique gift, just as they, in turn, had given her one.
“Rose? Are…Are you crying?” Neal asked softly, stepping up next to her, though trying not to get too close to the monster, despite how friendly it was looking.
“Am I?” Rose put her hand to her face, and wiped away a few tears that were glistening. Upon seeing that she really was crying, she stopped to figure out why. “I don’t feel upset,” she reasoned.
“Then they’re tears of happiness, and it is a sight to see,” Neal said, as he felt tears starting to form at the corners of his own eyes.
Not knowing what to do next, Rose did what she felt the urge to do, and she hugged Neal, putting him in a state of shock.
“Thank you,” she whispered to him. “Thank you for finding me.”
“It’s okay, my child. It’s okay. Perhaps, it was you who found me, and them,” Neal gestured to Kurz and Mason, who was only slightly jealous that the old man got a hug before he did.
“Can’t argue that,” Mason agreed, shoving his jealousy aside. “If you hadn’t shown up, I would still be under Finch’s thumb, always one step away from choosing a better path.”
“Hey, I was the one who beat you up, remember!” Kurz interjected.
“Yeah, but she did it first! That aside, don’t you have something to say to her?”
“I…” Kurz turned to face Rose, and all his conflicted feelings came forward. “I suppose if you hadn’t come here, life would have been normal but unchanging. In a matter of days, you upended everything pretty much.”
“Is that a compliment?” Rose asked, a sly smile starting to show.
“I’ve spent too long around him these past few days,” Mason interrupted. “That is the best you’re going to get!”
“I’m not very good with my words, okay? I’m glad you’re here, okay? Is it better to put it that way?” Kurz snapped back.
“Thank you all,” Rose said, trying to keep the peace. “I may not know who I am still, but this moment, this is one I’ll remember.”
She knew she would have to tell them her choice, but for now, she let them all bask in their hard fought victory, and let the townspeople enjoy their peace…
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Epilogue (not finished yet!)
Now all that's left is the epilogue! I hope you join me for that...
Till next time,
Keep on writing
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
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