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 Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:10 am
 She felt so lost, like she didn't know what to do- And she hated it. She hated that her mind remained coated in a sort of blank fog in places, and where she could remember things clearly it was almost as if they were memories not worth keeping in the first place. At least she looked presentable, at least for the moment- she didn't really have anywhere to go, so nowhere to freshen up... but she dusted off her clothes regularly, almost compulsively- and fiddled idly with her jewelry. But it wasn't like she had many options. She hid as best she could during the blighted day, even though it didn't test her eyes as sorely as she remembered, and only went out at night. ...but she was aimless, directionless... powerless. She settled down on a bench in a deserted park, fanning her skirt out neatly. What would she do? At a loss, she closed her eyes to block out the dim lights that interrupted the soothing darkness... Oh, she was not one for prayer- she could mouth the words and chant the chants, but she never really -meant- any of it... But now she did, even if she didn't know much of the powers that might be about in a place such as this. "Please, someone... grant me some guidance! If you do, I shall serve you. ...just..." she thought, hands clasped together.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:03 pm
 Where ever there was shadow or darkness, he was present. At least in a small degree he was. Antarmu'ss was not always very aware of what was going on in most places. He tried to keep as close a eye on the world of the Pockettu as he could. So when he would hear a plea that might have possibly been useful to him, he focused there. Antar looked down upon the dark skinned woman, his hand stroking his chin in the darkness of his realm. After a moment he decided to answer her. With her eyes closed, there was clearly a degree of darkness that she was 'seeing' as it were. So there, beneath the lids of her closed eyes, Antar imposed a small image of himself. Standing with a hand outstretched, a smirk upon his masked face, and beckoning to her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:27 pm
For a slight moment, she entertained the notion that she might have gone crazy- not just because she was seeing someone in the darkness of her mind's eye... the whole situation. Was this all just some elaborate dieing dream?
...she quickly dismissed the notion quickly, though- for one, she didn't think that she was weak enough to succumb to insanity, no matter how reduced her state of being might be. For two... there were all these little details which seemed too random, too specific for everything to just be a delusion.
...so, although her experience with magic told her not to trust an image that appears out of the blue...
She smiled- at least this was a -direction- of a sort.
Spinneret, as she called herself since she'd 'woken up' in this body, racked her brains for a moment, trying to come up with a polite enough mode of address for a masculine figure...
Then she attempted to project it in her mental 'voice'- "Sir...?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:00 pm
This was a entirely new way of communicating, so Antar was not certain if he could manage to utilize it well. Though the results at the moment were undeniably encouraging. He heard the mental call from the woman and he tilted his head at her Again he made a gesturing motion to her with his hand. His tail swayed back and forth behind him, the soft tip brushing the ground while the black tendrils curled about like fingers. "Come" he would whisper into her ear, though his voice would come as a murmur in her real ear rather then in her mind.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:15 pm
Her eyes fluttered open in surprise at the voice she heard in her ear, the image momentarily vanishing- she was alone in the park... but still...
Spin got to her feet, thinking if she'd heard the voice with her ear and not her mind, that maybe whoever was calling to her wanted her to physically -go- somewhere, and not just attempt to send her mind his way.
She closed her eyes again, concentrating- "Where do you wish me to go?" she thought, firmly. It was just an honest question, with no sarcasm or resentment coloring it.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:25 pm
Antar let the image of him fade away. So when the female closed her eyes again, there would be no return of his form. Instead he used the darkness to fashion a image of black stairs hidden behind a large rock and tree. While he held this image for Spin behind her eyelids, he caused a opening to form behind the same rock and tree in the park. With ease he forced a Umbra road to touch the surface, the shadow cast by the tree keeping the entrance translucent for the time being.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:33 pm
She was familiar enough with magic that she wasn't taken aback by the images forming in her mind- and not even when she looked back to the real world to find those images mirrored in a pathway that hadn't been there before.
Hesitation, while possibly wise, also seemed like an unbearably weak action- and she was very tired of feeling weak and lost. Her course clear, she put one foot in front of the other, moving quickly but without what she would view as undignified haste. At the very entrance, she paused, closing her eyes once more, pressing a quick thought into the mental gloom, "Thank you," before resuming her way, entering into opening laid before her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:50 pm
Antar would give the female no other signs or images now. This was perhaps his most indirect greeting of a supplicant, and he was enjoying the mystery of it. The doorway would vanish behind Spin, ultimately trapping her in a tunnel that was, but was not there. The Umbra road was nothing more then a shadow that reached through the ground. What it touched it turned into a ethereal sort of state. Earth, rock, and root became as thin as mist and had the appearance of a ghostly creation. Bugs and worms inched through soil unaware of the altered state of their world around them. Though no light was offered, the tunnel itself seemed to be a pale shade of gray detectable to the eye, allowing for easy sight of it's twists and turns. The edges of the Umbra road wavered and shifted like a thing alive. Sometimes it was wide and smooth to walk, yet Spin could turn a corner and find it so narrow and cramped she'd need to get on her hands and knees to crawl further along.
At the end, if she persevered, the road would open up into a huge cavern. A black city, carved right from the solid rock of the cavern, sprawled out like unruly moss left to grow. Moss itself, glowing in dark patches of blue, purple, and green, lit the city up like a mad ravers pain splattered wall. The city itself seems empty though, barely a echo of anything more then a creatures hiss comes from it's streets. On the other side of the cavern, just large enough to possibly be detected, stands a large archway leading to another tunnel.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:08 pm
She vaguely sensed the pathway closing up behind her, but she paid it no heed- even if she had felt any sense of alarm about the way before her, she really had nothing to go back -to-... so she felt an almost alarming lack of fear. It was still strange, of course- but then again what about her current situation -hadn't- been strange? At least now there was a path ahead of her, clear and precise- and it seemed safe to assume that she was meant to follow it.
She continued along her way, occasionally holding and rubbing her thumb over her pendant, the one with the mark of a black widow spider on it, as though she found the thing comforting in some way... and she did pause, huffing mildly when the path narrowed to the point where she had to -crawl-... but she did it. She did it and then took a moment to stand and straighten her dress the moment she could resume standing- but she didn't tarry overlong.
Once she reached the huge cavern, her shoulders relaxed, quite visibly to anyone watching. Even if it seemed to be deserted, the dark city felt like... well, sort of like 'home' in a strange sense. The soft moss-light, soft compared to the harshness of the surface's daylight, and the bright colors against black stone... it was beautiful. She wanted to stay there, almost- to wander in the empty streets-
but she didn't allow herself to forget she was there with a purpose, and evidently at someone's sufferance- so once she noticed the archway, she made her way onward. Her soul felt strangely refreshed, though, and she seemed to move with a bit more grace.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:35 pm
As Spin would walk through the city, empty windows and doors would peer down at her like the hollows of a skull. Dust settled upon windowsills and lined the large flat streets. 'light' posts stood like vigilant honor guards by every door, glowing moss of various colors streaming down their stone form. Here and there little pools of water seemed to well up from the stone itself, providing small but deep pools of clean water.
Spin was not alone in this city though. Twisted chimeric creatures with black bodies and purple eyes scuttled around corners. They peeked at her through openings and ghosted overhead from rooftop to rooftop. Only when she reached the grand archway, which was detailed with the word 'Ebony Fortress' did they cease to follow her.
Once more a Umbra Road laid before her. Unlike the other she just walked, this one remained spacious and consistent. It was a shorter walk to it's end, which proved to be a ledge overlooking what seemed to be a bottomless pit. In the center of this pit rose a black ebony spider. Topped with a gothic style castle. Silver curtains fluttered in the windows overlooking the pit, and a black bridge that looked like it was made of black glass stretched from the ledge all the way to the opened front gates of the castle.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:47 pm
She moved at a brisk, though not hurried pace. If she was attacked by the creatures, she had sort of a resigned acceptance that she was probably done for- she was not much of a fighter, not without her magic and not without her 'bodyguard...' If she was going to fall to one of the strange creatures, she was going to fall with some amount of grace and dignity.
-well, as much dignity as one could scrape together while being eaten alive.
She couldn't help the slight smirk that crossed her fate at that dark thought- it really was quite funny, in a way. Spin continued on, acting as though she didn't care what was following her, like she was fearless- it seemed to have worked in some way, even if it was just as a bolster to her own self-confidence, as she made it through the archway in one piece.
The new strange pathway almost felt like an old thing to her, at least after this longish journey. She was thankful that this one was not quite so varied- crawling around in her dress wasn't any fun, after all. Once she got to the overlook, however, she paused a long moment- her heart beating both with excitement and a small spike of fear. It was a beautiful spider, to be sure... but... did it mean?
No, it couldn't mean that Lloth had found her here- she reasoned to herself. For one, she doubted her annoyances were enough for the goddess to fashion such an elaborate trap... For two- would she really have sent a male to beckon her forward?
Maybe she was just justifying it to herself- it all did seem a little too good to be true...
Then again, she'd come this far- so after that one moment of pause, she made her way towards the dark castle- the gates were open, after all.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:31 pm
As Spin would approach the castle, the spider that had seemed to form the base of the castle would fade into the darkness around it. Vanishing away as the last sign to beacon her onwards. The wide gates stood unattended, and the courtyard was almost bleak with it's lack of decoration or care. It would only be once she stepped inside, past the unlocked doors, that she would find a lavish interior. Rugs and statues graced the hallway. Mirrors with black surfaces decorated the walls. Doorless rooms, covered only by thin sheets of silvery material opened off the main hallway. At the end was a large temple room. A stone alter dominated the center of the room, and behind that a large black throne stood. In the center seat of the throne a mass of darkness there was formless and constantly moving as if caught in a errant wind. Once it was that Spin would make it this far, a pair of slitted purple eyes would slowly form within the darkness and look down upon her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:45 pm
She couldn't help having a tiny bout of mixed feelings- on the one hand, the spider vanishing sort of reassured her that she probably wasn't walking into a trap set by the Spider Queen... on the other hand she sort of hated to see it go. Still, there was no time for standing around waffling- she entered the palace, her eyes still allowing her to see fairly well in the darkness.
As she paced along the most obvious route, she allowed her eyes to sweep back and forth a bit, to take in the scenery- but only as long as she kept moving. Surely such an elaborate castle either meant something very good or something very bad for her- whoever owned this place could probably help her a great deal... or make her continued existence very short indeed.
Spin slowed her pace as she stepped into the temple room- she had been a poor acolyte before, but she knew well enough to recognize this was a sacred space, and as she was likely at the whim of someone who valued it, she should pay respect. Her ruby eyes caught sight of the roiling mass of darkness even her sight couldn't penetrate, and she paused- even moreso when the eyes appeared. They were purple... same as the figure that had appeared in her mind, perhaps?
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:41 pm
She was afraid. Not by much, but enough to be cautious. Antarmur'ss watched the female from his throne, then decided to condense himself. The darkness reformed and enlarged, stretching out until Antar had taken his true form. His leg crossed over the other, the foot lightly swinging while his tail laid to one side. Antar's claws tapped along the arm of his throne with their silver tips. Beneath his mask, a nearly sardonic smile curled his black lips. "So..." He murmured softly from his throne. "Here you are."
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:59 pm
"Ahhh..." she hadn't meant to vocalize anything, but it slipped past her lips anyway- so, she'd been correct, it was the male she'd seen earlier in her mind's eye. He was much larger than she'd expected him to be, somehow, but after coming all this way, she wasn't about to back down.
"Yes, I am here, Sir-" she dipped into as elegant a curtsy as she could muster, playing it coolly and polite-like, "...what would you have of me?" still polite, but more direct.
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