Who: Li-Ming and various NPCs from Diablo, most notably Zoltun Kulle What: Li has quite the fight in the Jungle Temple When: 9/28 Where: Jungle Temple Warnings: Some violence, otherwise pretty low
It was exhausting fighting the mercenaries that had invaded. She'd thought it had been bad fighting the three days against the denziens of her own dreams. She was also worried sick about Ahsoka, and she needed to vent. So the mercs were her targets of choice. They made very good targets, especially for her extremely destructive spells. She was escaping injury, thanks to her defensive spells. And typically pulverizing the groups of mercenaries with a flaming meteor tended to take care of them easily enough. And if that didn't, Li had other spells that could easily finish them off before she took any damage. Sometimes she wished that she had healing magic, but she liked being an offensive spellcaster.
Li had just turned down a street, keeping her eyes open for any mercenaries. However, she was suddenly teleported somewhere. She frowned and turned around, wondering where she was.
"Ah, there you are," a familiar voice broke the silence. Li turned in the direction the voice came from.
"Zoltun Kulle, show yourself."
"Why should I? Last we met, you killed me without hesitation without heeding my warnings. And you know, we are one and the same."
"I am nothing like you!" Li exclaimed.
"Is that so? You fought the forces of the Burning Hells just as I did. You want to beat them, though that is not enough is it? You want to eradicate them, to eliminate their threat upon our world, do you not? That was all that I was trying to do."
"You were insane, Kulle! You became twisted by your obsession and you did many terrible things. You became a monster just like any demon!"
"Me?! You of all people call me a monster. Look at the destruction you have wrought! By not heeding my warning, you let Adria set Diablo free and the High Heavens nearly fell because of it! You are the plague upon us all, the one with a black soul that should be hunted down and butchered like any other demon!"
"No!!" Li turned this way and that, Kulle's voice seemingly coming from every direction. "I am not a monster!!" She shot her incineration beam into the darkness around her.
"Stupid girl, you are not even aware of what happens to us, do you? Did you not pay attention to history? Those of us who fight evil eventually become it. The corruption of the Burning Hells is complete and it will never let go. You will lose to the demon side of yourself sooner or later. We champions of light pay a heavy price. I paid with my sanity, and ultimately my life twice over. You will one day have to pay the price for your heroics. And that day will come sooner than you think."
"No! You are wrong! I am stronger than you are, I will resist it. I will not fall to evil's corruption the way you did." Li spat back, even as she held those fears tightly inside of herself. She was afraid of becoming the monster that she hunted in her dreams. Li was both demon and angel, and some days she felt as though her own blood was fighting against itself, threatening to boil her from the inside out.
"Is that what you truly believe? You have quite an ego to you that you do not even see your own shortcomings. Prepare yourself for a rude awakening." Just then, Kulle appeared, along with several others. Li didn't recognize them all, but she knew her history. Aiden, one of the heroes of Tristam, who eventually became Diablo's vessel. A hero who fought alongside him and became a demon herself. Other heroes who stood against Diablo and his brethren in the past. And one of them stood out.
It was Li's teacher, the sorceress Isendra. While she hadn't turned evil like many of the others, she had died under suspicious circumstances. Li had found her body and had never forgotten that sight. How could she? It was burned into her mind.
"Isendra," she spoke, some emotion creeping into her voice.
"We all stood against the forces of evil, and look at what happened to us. The same will happen to you." Isendra said. The crowd encircled Li, and suddenly she felt claustrophobic. She frowned and turned in a slow circle.
"I have said this before, and I will say it again. I will not suffer the same fate all of you have. No matter what you say. Life is different here. Diablo and his brethren have been vanquished, and this world doesn't have the stain of demons upon it. I will remain a champion for good here." Li declared.
"Oh, how much you have yet to learn, young one." Kulle said in a taunting manner.
And that was when Li couldn't take it any longer. And it seemed the others weren't going to wait either, for they all attacked at once, and at the same moment that Li cast her Archon spell and assumed her Archon form. She used her magic to rip through everyone, quickly sending them back to the afterlife they'd come from. Then everything fell silent, but Kulle wasn't yet dead. He was badly injured and near-death, but he looked up at Li.
"You are already on that slippery slope downwards."
"You know what? I may be, but you forget I am Nephalem, just as demon's blood runs in my veins so does the blood of angels. I have people who care about me and will stop me from falling into the same darkness that you did. I may be afraid of becoming like you, but I know I can avoid such a fate in this life. Earth is not Sanctuary. I was born here on Earth and became what I am in Sanctuary through dreams. I choose my own destiny, and I am not bound to walk the path all of you did. Unlike you, I choose to turn around and walk back towards the light because that is who I am. I am a champion of good, not of evil. And no matter what you say, as long as I have my girlfriend and my friends, I will not fall to the darkness within me. Not completely."
And it was at that juncture that a voice boomed throughout the temple, announcing that she'd passed. Li found herself back on the street that she'd been on before being teleported away. It was definitely an odd sensation, but she suddenly felt lighter, like she'd let go of some fear she'd silently held onto. She drew in a slow breath and couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. Li would not become the evil that she fought, regardless of what the norm seemed to be for the heroes that came before her in her world.
With a bounce in her step, Li went back to taking care of some mercenaries before she'd go back to check on Ahsoka.