Guardians of Terraria II: The World of Calamity

Episode 20.2 - The Filthy Mind

Daddy?

He was lying on a bed, this small girl jumping on him, her short blonde hair bouncing. She stumbled before falling forward on his body.

Right as he was dropped on the ground by the Hive Mind. Before he could come to his senses, the Hive Mind had made a quick circular loop in the air, an impact sending him flying. His back slammed into a corrupted, grey-wooded tree.

"William!" Sid shouted, running over to him. "You okay?"

William wasn't even sure what to say, but didn't get a chance anyway, as the Hive Mind charged at them again. Sid grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, the Hive Mind crashing straight through the tree, uprooting it and sending the trunk flying.

William wiped a hand across his helmet and pulled out his Urchin Mace, first slashing at some Dank Creepers that were flying towards him. After they'd been torn to pieces he noticed upon their deaths, they'd morphed into some sort of lingering purple cloud that began dripping purple liquid underneath.

Best stay away from those.

The Hive Mind came at them again, slowly moving forward but keeping its distance. He took a moment to note how much life it was on – just over 8,000 – and threw his Clawmerang at it to try to hit it at a distance. The damage wasn't great, but as the Hive Mind made another lunge he leapt to the side, and brought his mace through the Mind's side.

That was when suddenly it was in front of him, moving in a large semi-circle and slamming through his body. He felt those tendrils wrapping around him again –

And suddenly he was falling on a patch of gravel. His hand reached out, feeling the individual pebbles, as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Did daddy fall again?" The little girl.

"I just tripped on this root," he heard his own voice say. He took in the scene. Trees, mountains, cool air. A scene not unlike what he sometimes came across in Terraria.

Except this one... was real.

The trees didn't all look largely the same. There was an array of colours and shapes, leaves all rustling individually in the breeze. A light layer of fog had set in far away and higher up. He saw himself steadying himself back to his feet with a hiking stick, saw the girl, rugged up in a pink raincoat, jumping around with her arms held out to her sides like an airplane. He took a step towards her.

Only to find himself falling forward, purple grass of the Lavendar biome rushing up to him. He rolled over, seeing the Hive Mind hovering in the dark sky.

Somehow... getting hit by its tendrils was causing him to see more of these visions.

Of real life.

But they were also doing a number on his life count. He had just 150 left. He took a swig of a Healing Potion to top it up, but they still had a long battle ahead of them.

He and Sid kept on pressing on their attacks. Sid's summons were able to deal consistent but low damage, while William's mace was able to deal occasional but high damage. Not a bad combination, but not an ideal one either, as the Hive Mind began getting faster and faster as its life got lower and lower. Soon it was starting to outrun Sid's summons, which was bad.

And as for William... he couldn't get those visions out of his mind. Who was this little girl? A part of him wanted to get hit again on purpose so he could learn more, about this... life, these... memories... that he had seen.

Were these memories his? Of his life before coming into Terraria?

"We're getting close!" Sid's shout rattled William fully back to the battle. The Hive Mind teleported, then made a large dash directly over their heads, leaving a trail of purple clouds that began raining down that toxic, shady liquid. William cried out as he dashed out from underneath the downpour.

"Keep it up!" Sid yelled, calling down his recharged mech suit so he could start blasting.

The Hive Mind kept on spinning around them, launching more Dank Creepers and even some Eaters of Souls and brown worms named Devourers.

"It's on less than 1,000 health!" Sid eventually shouted.

The Hive Mind was slowly hovering towards them at that point. William leapt up, Urchin Mace swinging, and brought it through its skin for as much damage as he could. Then the Hive Mind roared and shot itself forward, those tendrils grasping around his body.

And suddenly there was a woman with his arms around him, pressing her body tightly against his. Hair, blonde, curly, and smooth, was brushing against his cheek and mouth. They separated from their hug, and he got a good look at her face. Freckles, like in that young girl from the earlier visions, though her eyes were brown, not blue, and her facial structure was thinner. Regardless, she looked like she could be the girl's mother.

Mother...

Daddy...

The first words she said shook him to his core.

"I love you William," she said.

Then he heard his own voice speaking in return.

"I love you too Laurie."

I will just... remind you of the vote button's existence real quick.