Link to article: SCP-8249 3.
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[[=]] ++ {{SCP-8249 FILE UPDATED}} +++ {{Displaying Revision 2 Changes Only…}} [[/=]] ----- **Object Class:** Apollyon / Euclid **Special Containment Procedures:** Agent Esther Lewis is assigned as overseer of containment of Site-██ [sic]. The category 5 thaumaturgic containment ward established by Agent Lewis around Site-██ [sic] must be maintained indefinitely. This is a Level 5 priority. **Description:** The following document, authored by Agent Esther Lewis, must not be removed from this file. [[div class="blockquote"]] I am going to explain what I can. You must connect the dots. ‘Sic’ means the text before it is exactly as it is found elsewhere. __Exactly.__ There is an unallocated sub-designation for SCP-8249. Unlike the SCP-8249-A and SCP-8249-C designations, there is no description allocated to it. The term ‘archon,’ as used by the members of SCP-8249, refers to a class/rank of extremely powerful entities from SCP-8249’s world of origin. The archons are second only to the ‘Three Eternal Tyrants’, the superpowers of that world, which the archons serve. The ability of an archon depends on which of the three Tyrants they serve. The unseen lord [sic], one of the Tyrants, and everything within their domain, is functionally non-existent. SCP-████ [sic] was a //Holland//-class submarine undergoing analysis at Site-87 on the day SCP-8249 arrived, in the very room they arrived. On March 16th, it was relocated by the Department of Logistics to Site-██ [sic], which was a heavily-funded Foundation facility, currently located in central Manitoba, Canada. There are no Foundation personnel who remember any meaningful details about SCP-████ [sic] or Site-██ [sic], except what I have established here. Records of SCP-████ [sic] and Site-██ [sic] do not exist, except those which only mention them in passing, or also mention SCP-8249-C. The only record containing any significant descriptions of SCP-████ [sic] and Site-██ [sic] is the SCP-8249 file. I am desperately trying to postpone an imminent, cataclysmic containment failure at Site-██ [sic]. I am running out of time. I require further resources and personnel, but I am only capable of postponing the inevitable. The only thing that will end this disaster is SCP-8249-A. [[/div]] ----- **Addendum 1:** Initial Emergence [[div class="blockquote"]] [[=]] +++ {{Displaying Revision 1 Changes…}} ++++ {{Changes By: Agent Lewis, Esther}} [[/=]] ----- = **VIDEO LOG** **DATE:** March 12, 2024 **LOCATION:** Site-87 (Nx-18 / Sloth’s Pit, Wisconsin) ---- = **[BEGIN LOG]** //[Footage depicts a large containment room with SCP-████ [sic], a// Holland//-class submarine, in the centre. There are several Foundation researchers using equipment and terminals situated around the anomaly to study it.]// //[A faint light becomes visible through the west wall, shining through the opaque brickwork from a point beyond it; several researches notice this and highlight it to the others. The light slowly grows in intensity, and everyone present moves away from the wall.]// //[A figure in a crimson cloak, SCP-8249-C, stumbles backward out of the wall, tripping over a power cable and falling onto their back. Seconds later a white horse with rider, SCP-8249-A, emerges at full gallop, colliding with a desk and flinging the rider a moderate distance as the horse tumbles. Both jump back to their feet, SCP-8249-A glancing about wildly before calming his horse and mounting it again.]// //[The researchers all abandon their tasks and run for the room’s sole exit, one triggering the room’s containment alarm as they go. The siren startles all three entities; SCP-8249-C rolls over and covers their ears, while SCP-8249-A soothes the horse again and spurs it to follow the fleeing researchers.]// //[A large, vague entity resembling an amorphous black hound, SCP-8249-█, emerges from the wall at speed; it knocks several desks and equipment aside before tripping over SCP-████ and crushing the equipment on the other side. It roars in pain. --//] //[SCP-8249-A looks back. SCP-8249-C scrambles to their feet, glancing about and spotting the rider, who returns their focus to steering the horse at full gallop. The light disappears from the west wall.]// //[SCP-8249-█, now appearing as an upright humanoid silhouette, and lurches to pursue SCP-8249-A. They stop after a short distance and appear to recognise the surrounds; the entity surges toward the west wall, completely abandoning any definite form, and collides with it. They reform into various shapes to scrabble against the wall, then look around in evident panic.]// //[SCP-8249-C briefly looks toward the west wall, then sprints toward the exit; the last of the researchers escape, and the room’s doors close and lock behind them. SCP-8249-C searches for a way to open the doors, but finding none looks for a different escape route.]// //[SCP-8249-█ spots SCP-8249-C figure and the two exchange a glance. SCP-8249-C runs toward SCP-████; SCP-8249-█ follows their path and spots the open hatch atop SCP-████. SCP-8249-█ easily outpaces SCP-8249-C and appears to flow into SCP-████, filling it despite being several magnitudes larger, and pulling the hatch closed behind it. SCP-8249-C slows to a stop, looking around again.]// //[SCP-8249-C runs to a toppled desk nearby and hides behind it.]// ----- [[=]] +++ {{Extraneous Information Omitted.}} [[/=]] [[/div]] ----- **Addendum 10:** Transport to Site-██ [sic] On December 26th, 2024, SCP-8249-A was transported by helicopter from Site-87 to Site-██ [sic]. Although it was uncertain whether SCP-8249-A had regained sufficient strength to address the situation at Site-██ [sic], Agent Esther reported that their involvement could not be postponed any longer, and the situation would rapidly and irreparably deteriorate within the next 24 hours unless concluded. [[div class="blockquote"]] = **[BEGIN LOG]** //[Footage depicts the interior of a helicopter flying quickly over sparse, winter forests. Six are seated inside in two rows of three, facing each-other; Agents John Martin, Ben Jacques, and Roland King are on one side, while opposite them are SCP-8249-A, ‘Adam,’ and SCP-8249-C, ‘Bard,’ separated by Agent Esther Lewis. SCP-8249-C is looking out the window, watching the scenery with glee; SCP-8249-A is clutching his harness, knuckles white, his eyes clenched shut and grimacing.]// **Agent Jacques:** I thought you said he remembers everything you do? **Agent Lewis:** Up until we left 87, yes. But memory isn’t experience. **SCP-8249-A:** I don’t like this. **Agent Lewis:** We’ll drive back, but right now we need to haul arse. The wards were starting to fail when I left, and I expect they’ll be worse when we get there. **Agent King:** Sitrep. **Agent Lewis:** We’re flying into the ground zero of a k-class event that’s been chugging steroids for months, and using everything we’ve thrown at it as exercise weights. I’ve done everything I can to keep a lid on the archon, but it’s clearly only become stronger over time. **Agent Martin:** Wait. From your note on the file, I thought we couldn’t talk about…? **Agent Lewis:** We can, for now. The hard part is remembering. This thing’s schtick is that it constantly makes you forget whatever it wants you to forget, and right now that means itself. The note was just a way of trying to talk around it so people won’t forget as quickly -- there’s probably a full description of it somewhere, for what that’s worth, but nobody can remember where it’s saved, if anyone even remembered to write it in the first place. **Agent Martin:** Hence the m-nestics. **Agent Jacques:** ‘Mm-nestics,’ just mumble -- **Agent Lewis:** Hence why the four of us are hopped up on drugs that’re going to hospitalise us for months, yeah. The archon is growing and it’s taking more and more to fight it off, and we can’t afford to forget what we’re doing half-way through doing it. **SCP-8249-C:** You have counter-wards to the archon’s power? Interesting. **Agent Martin:** Warrior-boy I understand, but why’s the Bard here? **SCP-8249-C:** Because I want to be. This will be an epic for the ages! The final climatic conflict -- **Agent Lewis:** He’s the closest thing we have to protection. **Agent King:** Protection from forgetting? **SCP-8249-A:** From being obliterated from existence. //[A pause.]// **Agent King:** Explain. **Agent Lewis:** The archon is a memory-eater. You forget -- it remembers. That’s all it could do before, alongside throwing punches like a freight train, but now it’s spent the last nine months feeding on everyone I’ve had to pull in to contain it. Most were thaumaturges keeping the ward up, who have to retake ‘Spellcasting 101’ now, and everything they’ve lost the archon has been using to beef itself up. I’ve given it as little as possible, but it’s still been enough for it to grow. **SCP-8249-C:** An unseen archon, empowered by Transient magic. What is it capable of now? //[Agent Lewis checks her safety harness is secure then unbuckles her seatbelt and stands up, opening the door beside SCP-8249-C; she leans out enough to see the area ahead.]// **Agent Lewis:** Take a look. //[She sits down again. SCP-8249-C leans in his seat to see; Agent Jacques steps over and leans out to look.]// **Agent Jacques:** Oh, //hell.// //[Ahead, surrounded by a ring of large, engraved stones and a huge Foundation encampment is a building.]// **Agent King:** What is it? **Agent Jacques:** It’s a building. //[A pause.]// **Agent King:** And? **Agent Jacques:** That’s it. It’s a building-shaped building, with… with building-things on it. I can’t… **Agent Lewis:** //That// is what’s left of Site Whatever. I think the archon is trying to pull the whole place out of reality as a foothold. It hasn’t succeeded yet, but it’s getting there. **SCP-8249-C:** Ah. And that is why you need me; because my affiliation with Ebutapakht affords me protection from such oblivion-powers. **Agent Lewis:** //[Nods.]// You’re going to keep it preoccupied so it doesn’t have time to screw with us. **Agent Martin:** A human shield. **SCP-8249-A:** Trust me, it’s all that he’s good for. **SCP-8249-C:** //[Scoffs.]// We both know I’m much more useful -- **Agent Lewis:** It’s all we need you for, and if you want to spectate, you’re going to do it. Got it? //[SCP-8249-C shrugs.]// **SCP-8249-C:** If you insist. **Agent Lewis:** We do. You’re one of the few advantages we have, other than Adam and the fact the archon doesn’t want to, or can’t, go home yet. **Agent Martin:** Wouldn’t all this be over if it shoved off? **SCP-8249-A:** It’ll go back to the unseen lord, and return with reinforcements. **SCP-8249-C:** The other Tyrants will also hear of the movement and dispatch their own forces to investigate, too. **Agent Lewis:** And this archon is the //weakest// of them all. Or at least, it was. //[Agent Martin exhales; Agent King pinches the bridge of his nose.]// **Agent Lewis:** It hasn’t done anything showing it’s found a way back, though, and it can’t have learnt how from us because we haven’t found a way to Adam’s world either. Ben, are you going to sit down? **Agent Jacques:** I don’t see anyone. //[Agent Lewis unbuckles and gets up, leaning out to see as Agent Jacques returns to his seat. There is no movement throughout the Foundation encampment. The area is abandoned.]// **Agent Lewis:** The ward is down. Get us down there -- //[The helicopter pitches sharply forward. SCP-8249-A shouts in fear and tightens his grip on his harness; Agent King grabs Agent Lewis’s harness, pulling her back into the helicopter. She quickly climbs into the cockpit, finding it empty, grabs a joystick, and steadies the vehicle. Agent Jacques mutters and makes the sign of the cross.]// **Agent Martin:** What the hell -- **Agent Lewis:** Roland, get in here, now! //[Agent Lewis buckles herself into the copilot’s seat while Agent King does the same in the pilot’s. They co-operate to fly the helicopter the rest of the way to a makeshift landing area on the outskirts of the Foundation encampment.]// **Agent Lewis:** The moment we land we’re going straight in, we are officially out of time! **SCP-8249-C:** And so it begins! The dire stakes, an imperilled world -- **SCP-8249-A:** Shut up! **Agent King:** What’s our equipment -- **Agent Lewis:** Whatever we find at the camp, but don’t dawdle, and keep close to the B-- //[The footage cuts out. For several minutes the video consists only of brief, disjointed snippets of moments when SCP-8249-C is visible, audible, or mentioned by the others; the recording is otherwise blank. The footage resumes with the group sprinting toward the building, Agent Ben’s body camera now attached to SCP-8249-C’s cowl, pointing toward his face, which is changing faster than before.]// **Agent King:** Cameras are back. **Agent Jacques:** Just him, or -- **Agent King:** All. //[The group is running over flat, green ground. Each agent is carrying a backpack and wielding a rifle; Agent King is carrying a long-range rifle. SCP-8249-A is similarly armed, and has both SCP-8249-1 and SCP-8249-2 in their scabbards on his back. As they run, their footsteps sound like footsteps against ground.]// **SCP-8249-C:** Is this really necessary? **Agent King:** Yes. **SCP-8249-C:** But I’m more than capable of -- **Agent Lewis:** We prefer our own recordings. **SCP-8249-C:** But I will be recording this anyway, I don’t see the point -- **Agent Martin:** Well more is better, now zip it. //[The group slows as they reach the entrance of the building. There is a wall. There is a doorway. There is a door.]// **Agent Martin:** The hell is this supposed to be? **Agent Lewis:** The main entrance of a Foundation facility, abstracted almost to oblivion. We’re lucky there’s a door at all. Ready? //[Each of the agents chambers a bullet; SCP-8249-A does as well, but with difficulty.]// **Agent King:** Are you sure you can use that? **SCP-8249-A:** Give me a minute. //[SCP-8249-A fiddles with and adjusts his assault rifle for several moments while the others watch, impatiently.]// **Agent Martin:** Whenever you’re ready princess, there’s no rush or anything. **SCP-8249-A:** I said //give me a minute//, I just need experience with it. **SCP-8249-C:** Can I have one? **Agent Lewis:** No. **SCP-8249-C:** Why -- **SCP-8249-A:** Because you’re clueless and it’s dangerous. I’m set, lets go. //[The six push through the door and enter the building, guns raised. The room inside has plenty of room; the five with rifles turn on their mounted flashlights and look around. There is nothing in the room. There is a door at the other end.]// **Agent Lewis:** Why does this thing keep lurking in big, dark places? **SCP-8249-C:** The unseen lord rules what is formless and beyond knowledge. Darkness conceals form and truth, so those of the lord’s domain find it parallel to their home and prefer places beyond sight. //[The group walks, footsteps echoing across the room.]// **Agent King:** How far in is the archon? **SCP-8249-A:** Don’t know. **Agent King:** I was asking -- **Agent Lewis:** He knows what I know, which is nothing. We’re flying blind. **Agent Jacques:** You never sent anyone in to investigate? **SCP-8249-A:** Whoever came back out couldn’t remember what they were doing, and nobody could remember the ones who didn’t return. //[The door is in a doorway in a wall. Agent Lewis opens it; there is a room with plenty of room, and nothing in the room. The group enters.]// **Agent King:** Blueprints? Layout? **Agent Lewis:** Nobody remembers where the files are or which is actually for this place, and considering the state of it I’m not sure they would be accurate anymore. **Agent King:** X-ray, sonar, anything? **Agent Lewis:** Nothing that went in came back out, other than survivors. **Agent Martin:** Wonderful. Just wonderful. //[They continue across the room. There is an echo of footsteps.]// **Agent Martin:** We’re walking in a straight line, right? **Agent King:** I… think so. **Agent Jacques:** This feels like my first day in a new facility. Disoriented, getting lost down hallways I don’t recognise. [!-- THERE IS NO TYPO IN THE BELOW. LEAVE IT ALONE PLEASE. --] //[The group continues walking across the room. There is a door in a doorway in wall. Agent Lewis approaches the door.]// **Agent Martin:** Couldn't we just -- **Agent King:** Don't risk it. Follow the rules. [!-- THERE IS NO TYPO IN THE BELOW. LEAVE IT ALONE PLEASE. --] //[Agent Lewis opens the door; there is room, with nothing in it. They enter and continue.]// **Agent Jacques:** Feel that? In the air? //[Agents Martin and King nod. SCP-8249-C’s face, the features still constantly changing, is set in a stern expression]// **SCP-8249-C:** As do I. I understand what you mean, now -- this does not feel like the archon from Enbarr’s hall, not at all. It has grown beyond its own comparison. //[SCP-8249-A nods but says nothing. After a few moments SCP-8249-C stops.]// **SCP-8249-C:** Adam. **SCP-8249-A:** What. **SCP-8249-C:** I think we should turn back. //[SCP-8249-A stops and turns back to shine his light directly into SCP-8249-C’s face; they grimace, shielding their eyes. The agents stop as well.]// **Agent Lewis:** We don’t have time for this, we need to keep going. **SCP-8249-C:** //You// must, maybe, but not us. **Agent Martin:** Oh no, you aren’t turning tail on us -- **SCP-8249-C:** You can’t stop me. SCP-8249-A, you could not best it before, and I tell you, it is frighteningly stronger now. The archon you knew is but a fading echo of what it is now. //[A pause. Agent Lewis looks at SCP-8249-A.]// **Agent Lewis:** Adam -- **SCP-8249-C:** We still have time to find our way home. We can bring others with us -- **Agent Lewis:** And abandon us when we need you the most? We can’t do this alone, we’ve already tried -- if you leave, you are leaving us to be dominated by the unseen lord, then ripped apart between the Tyrants. **SCP-8249-C:** If he dies here, then neither this world nor our own can be saved. These people aren’t your concern. **Agent Lewis:** We are Transients! **SCP-8249-C:** They can’t be -- **Agent Lewis:** Look at us! How are we not? **SCP-8249-C:** You are more Triumvirate than anything else, and neither I nor he hold loyalty to that Tyrant. Adam, we must leave. //[SCP-8249-A glances between the agents. A silence ensues.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Triumvirate or Transient, I can’t leave them to a doom that I brought upon them. I won’t abandon them, and neither will you. **SCP-8249-C:** //[Scoffs.]// You can’t force me to stay. **Agent Martin:** I’m pretty sure we can. **SCP-8249-A:** No, you’ll choose to stay, because I will. Otherwise you’ll miss my triumph, or be the reason my saga ends without resolution, because the archon annihilated me without your protection. I’m going to keep going now, regardless of what you say or do. //[SCP-8249-A turns, pausing; he takes a deep breath and continues. Agent Lewis follows, patting him on the back. The agents continue through the room. SCP-8249-C stays, glancing between the door and the door.]// **SCP-8249-C:** Damn him, he’s right. //[SCP-8249-C continues through the room. There is a door in a doorframe. There is nothing else. SCP-8249-C opens it and enters.]// **Agent Jacques:** Oh thank goodness, I thought he was going to leave. **SCP-8249-C:** As I should, a story is useless without someone to tell it. **Agent Lewis:** And a teller like you is useless without the story. Do that again and you’ll regret it. //[The group continues. Nothing is different.]// //[There is a door. Agent Lewis glances at the others, then pushes the door with her gun. A thud.]// **Agent Jacques:** … what. **Agent Martin:** How the hell does that work? There isn’t even a doorframe this time! **Agent Lewis:** It just does, come on. //[The group enters. There is nothing. They continue.]// **SCP-8249-A:** I wish I had a torch. **Agent Martin:** For what? What do you expect to see? **SCP-8249-C:** A good question, which is why a torch would be useful. **Agent Lewis:** When the world is half-made and burning, the unknown is a blessing. I’d rather not -- //[The group stops.]// //[There is nothing.]// //[The group looks around with their lights.]// //[There is nothing.]// **Agent King:** There’s nothing here. **SCP-8249-C:** Exactly. **SCP-8249-A:** Esther, the Sunsword. //[Agent Lewis lowers her weapon and helps SCP-8249-A to remove SCP-8249-2 from its scabbard; the blade is glowing faintly. SCP-8249-A holds it upright in front of him with both hands.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Sword of day and dawn, forged with hope-filled heart, light our darkest hour; dispel this midnight art. //[SCP-8249-A raises the sword with both hands. The blade shines with an intense light, illuminating nothing.]// //[Nothing pulls back from the light.]// **Agent Martin:** //What in the almighty flying// -- //[The group looks up at nothing. SCP-8249-C is visibly aghast; Agent Jacques stumbles backwards in shock; Agent King raises his rifle, aiming at nothing; SCP-8249-A’s grip on SCP-8249-2, which has dimmed somewhat, falters; Agent Lewis grabs the blade and helps him to lower it.]// **SCP-8249-B:** The cowardly upstart is before me once again. Have you truly run so far you return to where you began? //[The agents slowly begin to fan out.]// **SCP-8249-B:** And you have brought others in your wake. Esther I know of, the would-be jailer who has nourished and strengthened me. Look upon the splendour you have granted me; if you think I am contained, you are a greater fool than the one you imitate. **SCP-8249-C:** Wait, don’t wander -- **SCP-8249-B:** Eltevar. I thought you would know better. **SCP-8249-C:** I do. But for now, I follow the hero’s story wherever it goes. //[Laughter. The party flinches; Agent Jacques covers his ears. SCP-8249-A takes an unsteady step backward, his hands shaking.]// **SCP-8249-B:** You should have stayed in Enbarr’s hall then, because there is no hero here! Look at him -- he is a coward who knows he will humiliate himself again, and is all too ready to flee for it. Go ahead, worm -- open the gateway to another world! Flee from the truth that you will amount to nothing, and that upon your failures I will thrive! //[Laughter. Agent Lewis grabs SCP-8249-A’s head and forces him to look into her eyes. His breathing is rapid and shallow.]// **SCP-8249-A:** I can’t do this, I can’t -- **Agent Lewis:** Deep breaths. In, out. In, out. **Agent King:** We don’t have time -- **SCP-8249-B:** //[Laughter.]// Is this really the great hero of the Transients, the mightiest among you? Pathetic! //[Agent Jacques steps over, pushing Agent Lewis aside and grabbing SCP-8249-A by the collar.]// **Agent Jacques:** Adam, stop screwing around, get your head in the game and show us how to beat this thing //now//. **SCP-8249-A:** I -- I couldn’t -- I can’t win -- **Agent Jacques:** We can. //We// can. You lost alone, but we’re here now, so wake up and show us what to do. You said you’d help us, now do it! **SCP-8249-B:** //[Scoffs.]// And who are you, then? **Agent Martin:** We’re the ones -- **SCP-8249-B:** Nothing! You are nothing but Transients, whose worth is as fleeting as your lives. I will wipe you from this world, and prepare it for the rule of the unseen lord. You and your kind will be no more, your names forgotten evermore. Even you, ‘mighty’ Adam, whose name will not even reach my master’s ear. **Agent Lewis:** Adam. Try. Just //try//. That’s all we ask. //[A silence. SCP-8249-A nods to Agent Jacques, then to Agent Lewis. Agent Jacques returns his position, assault rifle ready, while Agent Lewis moves as far from SCP-8249-A and the SCP-8249-C as she can.]// **Agent Lewis:** And what is the name of our great conqueror, then? **SCP-8249-C:** Don’t -- //[Nothing bristles. Everything ripples. The agents all recoil; SCP-8249-C drops to one knee, grimacing. SCP-8249-A mumbles to himself while performing various gestures, which cause several glyphs across his body to glow.]// **SCP-8249-B:** Hold your tongue, Transient swine! I may have been the least of my kin, but even then I was still greater than you, and I will not be insulted with name or form! //You// will not be blessed with a name -- //[SCP-8249-A jerks his arms to either side, completing a complex spell. Several large, glowing glyphs appear, giving definite form to nothing; SCP-8249-A raises his assault rifle and fires several rounds. Nothing howls in frustration and pain.]// **SCP-8249-A:** If I will be forgotten, then so be it -- but I’m not going without a fight! //[Nothing roars. The agents all open fire. SCP-8249-C is knocked over backwards; the camera is dislodged from their cloak, and the footage cuts out.]// //[The remainder of the footage consists exclusively of disjointed scenes and audio when SCP-8249-C is briefly visible or audible on-screen, while the archon is not.]// [[/div]] ----- **Addendum 11:** Recount by SCP-8249-C [[div class="blockquote"]] +++ ‘//Of the Battle Against the Unform Archon//’ ----- I know that you wish me to retell only what you do not know, and to omit the turbulent prelude to that climatic battle. For once, I shall acquiesce; for I need time to rest, and though I loathe to discard such critical details, my need is greater than the drive. Never have I seen your ilk in combat, yet minutes were enough to prove your prowess as a mighty force any of the Tyrants might covet. There was restraint in the first, demanded by my own protective proximity -- oh how I despise my presence in the tale! -- but with effort I expanded my reach, granting greater freedom to move, and then they truly came into their own; each a mighty wolf in oneself, but united as a fearsome, organised pack. Roland withdrew to the edges, not from cowardice but strategy; and though the most distant from his foe -- or as best as one can be against a formless -- the thunder-crack of his mighty iron bow was always heard, each marking the passage of arrows quicker than light, and never did any fail to find purchase in the archon. John, meanwhile, was most nimble and deft, neither unwilling to lose distance with the archon nor surrendering it without reason. A time I recall when the archon set upon him specifically, perhaps focusing its efforts to utterly crush the one -- he fled for a time but his pursuer would not relent, and so instead he drew blade and met it head-on. Injury he did incur, but most he evaded, and more was inflicted upon the formless before the others doubled their wrath to repel it. In such times Esther proved most fruitful, the plight of her kindred igniting a well-seen furious vengeance. That she had learnt much from Adam’s experiences was clear; she could not command the archon with words, but achieved the same effect by force, the power and aim of her arrows directing the archon as if it were a steed guided by reins, and she the rein-wielder. One must not fail to name Ben, either, for though his might in combat was lesser than the others -- yet still surpassing many a fighter of old -- such arose because of his clear mastery over medicines, and his aim being the healing of his allies. The feats I witnessed him accomplish would be vexatious to many a masterful healer in tranquil peacetime, yet he flawlessly worked with stead, unwavering hands even as the raucous anarchy of battle roared mere metres behind him. Neither can Adam be unmentioned, of course. He was competent enough with the iron-bow bestowed him -- a strange weapon I have never seen the like of before, yet clearly is common enough in this world -- and though he knew of its use, still he was clearly restrained with it. A swordsman is a swordsman, lifelong and forevermore; a bow of any type does not become him, and such stays true with even Adam. But never did he use the Sword of Ages as was his custom, except for glancing touch of the grip; and nor did he draw close to his foe as he had before. Perhaps he was unsteady upon his iron foot, still growing to it though it functioned to its purpose; perhaps he was uncertain, still haunted by the new-wrought power of his passing failure. The truth of this matter only he can tell if he is willing to do so. One thing I do know, though; the greatest apex of the fight, when the tide of battle turned, and sourly so. John again found himself in close quarters with the archon and fought with valiance to rival Adam’s own. He incurred grievous injury but managed to withdraw to Ben for treatment, while the others pulled archon’s focus away. Or so it had seemed; for without warning the archon broke aside and bore upon John anew, and nothing the others did seemed to deter it. Demise seemed inevitable, and worse was method by which it would come. My efforts were waning by that time, and as the archon drew upon the full depths of its oblivion-power, deigning to focus it all on the two before it, the very air cried out in forewarning. There was no time to strategize, no time for targets to evade. There was time only to join them, and only Adam had time enough for that. The archon let loose with its terrible, ruinous oblivion-flame, and Adam dared step before it. … ‘Knowledge isn’t experience’ -- that was something spoken before the conflict, to explain discord between Esther’s memories and Adam’s actions. In that moment, knowledge told Adam that the weapon he held was an iron-bow. A straight and true weapon, held lengthwise, from within which issued arrowheads with such force they escaped sight and the very air shrieked behind them. It was a weapon used from afar, and of little use once close. But //experience// told Adam he held a sword, and with blade one often defends by holding it upright. There was no time to recognise the folly of the act; Adam blindly heeded its direction. The terrible oblivion-flames washed over the iron-bow, and as they had in Old King Enbarr’s mighty hall, they scoured away what details they found. But the power of archon was changed by months of feasting upon Transient magics, and so too had it defiled the very world within its lair; the details seared away were to a much different effect than before. Perhaps Adam’s own newfold resolve held power over the result -- yes, to some extent it certainly did. Adam was determined to best the archon with weaponry, and before him he held a weapon, raised in defiance of imminent oblivion. Such was all that mattered in that moment, and all else was burned away. When the archon relented and flames subsided, both John and Ben persisted. So too did Adam, holding a weapon forged from archon’s own power, and so made defiant of it. Within Adam’s grasp, newborn, was the Half-Made Mace. A crude weapon it is, I admit, being made without focus or intent and bearing the signs of its former form. Perhaps one day it will be sculpted and refined within the flames of the Underforge, birthplace of the mighty Sunsword; I hope not, for in the doing a great measure of its beauty will be lost. Holding the Mace aloft, the seared waves and peaks of the blasted metal looked alike to a mighty torch in flame, an unspoken call-to-arms lighting a path onwards, though the flames are as rigid and unyielding as the resolve of he who held it. The archon was wrong-footed for only a moment. It recognised the great power before it, but sought to overwhelm with yet greater power; another torrent of oblivion-flames issued forth from it, yet they were to no effect, and those that followed even less so -- indeed all could see the Mace only strengthened before the onslaught, and in its light so too did Adam’s courage. With waning fear and subsiding hesitation, he strode forth to test the might of this new weapon, the first of his own, as all others he inherited; with waxing fear and growing hesitation the archon mirrored to meet him. Never have I heard an archon loose such a cry as was heard; a cry of searing, agonised pain, as a formless being was ruthlessly stripped of newfound power by strike of the Mace; of confusion and fear, at how such a sudden change could come about unforewarned; of fury at such insult, of a lesser being inflicting such pain, and the archon withdrawing before them. I spoke of the tide of battle turning, and sourly so; but it was against the archon it turned. They, not Adam, were the one who sought to flee before a mightier force they could not vanquish -- but no unseen gateway permitted an escape. No doubt it realise then that unforeseen change had wholly denied it hope of victory, placing its life in dire peril; but its pride would not permit it concede defeat, unless such was taken by force. The tumult continued. Across countless months the archon had feasted, grown, bloated upon Transient magics. Within minutes, the unrelenting strikes of Adam’s Mace had stripped it of those boons. Even thereafter more was torn from it, the blows dragging it lower, lower, lower than even the lowest of its power, and then yet lower still; the agony it must have felt, being brutally pummelled beyond recognition! The unyielding fury of the Half-Made Mace, hammering form from the archon’s formlessness, into which it was painfully constricted -- and the more definite it became, the more carnage the others’ iron-bows wrought. Unless Adam attains yet greater heights, or the Tyrants themselves clash before my very eyes, never again, I think, will I see a spectacle to outdo this: of a man in his prime, surging with such resolve that he deigns to tear the very darkness from night’s sky, and succeeds in crushing it beneath his will. By the close of the conflict, when the roar of iron-bows finally subsided, the arch was left as a mere mongrel-hound no larger than is common, left whimpering and pierced and pained and humiliated. Still it tried to fight, though its miserable form could scarcely obey it; only when Adam stepped forward and laid boot upon its neck did the last of its pride and fight extinguish. ‘My name is David!’ he said, raising the Mace high. ‘Inheritor of the Sword of Ages, and the name of Adam! No longer will you torment me or my kind!’ The Mace came down. The archon was no more. … Any doubt, if it exists, has been utterly dispelled by this feat. The man once born David has without question earned the title and duty he inherited long ago, and blossomed to full glory within and without it. David Ironfoot //is// Adam of the Transient, and through his works -- through determination, through tribulation, through darkest night to brightest day -- has forged a new title, which he and he alone lays claim to. Adam Archon-slayer, the indominable and unparalleled. [[/div]] ----- **Addendum 12:** Post-Operation Interaction between SCP-8249-A and Agent Lewis [[div class="blockquote"]] = **[BEGIN LOG]** //[Footage shows SCP-8249-A in their personal quarters. A bookshelf had been added, but only three books are present; SCP-8249-2, in its scabbard, is leaning against it. SCP-8249-A themself is sitting in a loafer chair, watching a movie on the television intently, while holding the hilt of SCP-8249-1 with one hand.]// **???:** Gentlemen. We do not stop until nightfall. **???:** What about breakfast? **???:** We’ve already had it. //[There is a knock at the door.]// **???:** We’ve had one yes, what about second breakfast? **SCP-8249-A:** Enter! //[The door opens and Esther enters, pulling her IV drip and its stand with her. SCP-8249-A pauses the movie and stands; he is not wearing his prosthetic foot, and uses SCP-8249-1, in its scabbard, as a cane.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Should you be -- **Agent Lewis:** I’m fine, just have to stay connected. Sit down before you fall over. You better not be watching Seinfeld again. **SCP-8249-A:** Lord of the Rings. //[Agent Lewis grins and nods.]// **Agent Lewis:** Much better. Enjoying it? **SCP-8249-A:** A lot. Good movie from what you remember. Please, sit. **Agent Lewis:** You need it -- **SCP-8249-A:** I’ll take the bed. Sit. //[SCP-8249-A offers his chair to Agent Lewis, who accepts it. SCP-8249-A hops over to his bed and sits on the edge, while Agent Lewis turns to face him.]// **Agent Lewis:** Thanks. I almost wish I hadn’t seen it, feels like I’ve already spoiled it for you. //[SCP-8249-A shrugs.]// **SCP-8249-A:** I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise, and you’ve actually forgotten most of it -- which is why I’ve got the Sword of Ages here. Committing it to memory for future Adams. **Agent Lewis:** Well, it’s a good movie to pick for that. //[SCP-8249-A nods. A silence falls.]// **SCP-8249-A:** But this isn’t a social call, is it. **Agent Lewis:** Not entirely, no. We are officially off-duty to recover, but… there are problems waiting for us. //[SCP-8249-A offers the hilt of SCP-8249-1 to Agent Lewis. She leans away from it, shaking her head.]// **Agent Lewis:** No no, I can’t, not anymore. **SCP-8249-A:** You’re already in there -- **Agent Lewis:** Upper management was fine with it before because it helped with the archon and was safer than drugs, but now that’s over they don’t want the new protocols and stuff being added. You’re the only person who’s allowed to handle it. Which reminds me, don’t bother trying any of my old passwords, they’ve all been changed. //[SCP-8249-A nods and rests SCP-8249-1 against his bed.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Please tell me it isn’t the archon again. **Agent Lewis:** No, that is definitely //very// dead, and I’m sure they’re having fun poking around in its corpse. And that building it screwed up too -- still deciding what to do out there, since we clearly need a facility there but what’s left isn’t fit for purpose. Probably just slap a designation on it and build a new one next door -- doesn’t matter, that whole mess is done and dusted for us. **SCP-8249-A:** New problems, then. Along with the old ones I still have to deal with back home. **Agent Lewis:** That’s… one of the three problems, actually. We… //[Agent Lewis sighs. SCP-8249-A grips the hilt of SCP-8249-1.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Your side-project hasn’t helped. You still don’t know how to get me home. //[Agent Lewis points at SCP-8249-A.]// **Agent Lewis:** We’re still trying, but… the portal that brought you here, it’s not the only one we’ve had, seventh we know of and third for something to come through, but… once they close, they never open up again. And considering that… //[A pause; Agent Lewis clicks her fingers repeatedly.]// **Agent Lewis:** The thing the archon was hiding in, the uh… **SCP-8249-A:** Submarine. **Agent Lewis:** Yeah, that. That was arrival number two, and since World War One-era submarines don’t exist in your world, it’s safe to assume the portals aren’t always going to lead back to your home. //[SCP-8249-A nods and slumps.]// **Agent Lewis:** We’re looking for other ways, and we do have a few contenders that might help, but… we need time. //[SCP-8249-A nods.]// **SCP-8249-A:** I… understand. Problem two, then. //[A brief silence.]// **Agent Lewis:** Upper management is… ok with you going back, but they want the Bard to stay here. //[SCP-8249-A casts a glance at Agent Lewis.]// **Agent Lewis:** I know it sounds iffy, but if he goes back it’s going to cause major problems for everyone, yourself included. **SCP-8249-A:** He’s annoying for sure, but he’s never been outright malicious -- **Agent Lewis:** Except in relentlessly spreading stories about you, which is the problem. The moment he’s back, he’s going to go babbling about your latest adventure to another world, and inevitably the Tyrants will hear about it and start looking for ways to get over here and unleash hell. That’s after they unleash hell on //you// -- they’ll notice there’s an archon missing, but since they don’t know any better they’ll just assume another archon did it. Once Bard comes prancing back singing about Adam //Archon-slayer//, though… //[A long, tense silence. SCP-8249-A covers his mouth, deep in thought.]// **SCP-8249-A:** … mmm. They won’t ignore that. I… I didn’t think of that. //[Another long pause.]// **SCP-8249-A:** Have you considered reasoning with the Bard? It probably won’t work -- **Agent Lewis:** That’s problem three. He’s gone. **SCP-8249-A:** … gone? **Agent Lewis:** Gone. Said he changed his mind, wanted to explore our world, and just waltzed out of his room. No idea how he did it or where he is, but I think he’s been playing us for fools for a long, long while. //[SCP-8249-A sighs.]// **SCP-8249-A:** The one time someone actually //wants him to stay,// he leaves. He knows exactly how to be… fine, right, what are we doing, going after him? //[Agent Lewis stands up.]// **Agent Lewis:** No. You are going to wait here while I fetch popcorn and see if the others are up for a movie night. **SCP-8249-A:** … but the Bard -- **Agent Lewis:** They have another team on it, and he’s not a major threat. He isn’t hostile, he doesn’t seem interested in causing problems, so he’ll be easy enough to clean up after once he shows up again -- maybe he’ll find a way for you home, or maybe he can’t without us. Either way, //we’re// exhausted, //you’re// exhausted, and it’s just time to rest. Now, are you watching theatrical, or extended cut? //[A pause.]// **SCP-8249-A:** … Extended. //[Agent Lewis nods, walking toward the door.]// **Agent Lewis:** Good, at least I gave you that. Just wait here David, I’ll -- **SCP-8249-A:** Esther. **Agent Lewis:** Mmm? **SCP-8249-A:** Call me Adam. //[Agent Lewis smiles and nods.]// **Agent Lewis:** I’ll be back, Adam. //[Agent Lewis opens the door and leaves. SCP-8249-A watches the doorway for several moments, then looks back to the TV. He resumes the movie.]// **???:** I don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip. //[Adam chuckles.]// = **[END LOG]** [[/div]] ----- ----- [[=]] [[module Rate]] [[/=]]