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What was his name? It bothered him, an aching at his skull. He was searching for it.

"Choose Destruction, and you will rain chaos upon all those who choose to defy you."

An ache in his heart turned. No… he would not be able to rain chaos, he didn’t want to. And… his shoulders shook remembering what happened when he took her heart, the hands around his throat, his inability to kill her even when he tried to fight back, no! Destruction wasn’t enough. It wasn’t what he looked for.

"Choose Pride, and your legacy will become unforgotten."

Unforgotten, he liked those words. But he didn’t want to just be unforgotten. He didn’t want to just stay where he was, to become a pass fragment forever set in time. He honestly didn’t want to share. Yes he wanted to be remembered but he wanted out of this.

“Choose Creation, and you will obtain greater knowledge."

Knowledge, his name even if that was his last thing. He wanted to move beyond this, to beat this. He would find a way. But… no besides. This was him. There was something wild about the green but also something more than simple destruction, more than a simple memory. The flash of the memory of envy crossed him, and he realized he didn’t want to destroy anything, he just wanted to be a part of something else. He didn’t want to be forgotten, he just ached for the other side. He could not be satisfied with disappointment or simple being remembered.

He tore through the woods, reaching for the crown. Offer your heart it called. He didn’t understand why he had too but if anything, this would be the right choice. He placed his hand on the crown another still clutching his heart. It hurt! But he expected that.

Everything spun. “I just want to find what I’m searching for.”


(choosing green)

Anni didn't know why she ended up at the Shrine. But somehow, she felt as if it were somehow calling to her. She moved automatically to the statues of the Goddesses, looking to them for an answer...

"Your fourth and final Trial is near. Your fragments will be tested, do not falter. You will not be forgotten."

"A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time. A wall can only give you what you need to carry on."

"Your fragments, your memories will guide the way. Sacrifice them for us. We love you most."

Anni expected for the other pillars to show their own Goddesses, but they still remained empty.

"You will face your final task and become something greater."

A different voice, this one all-powerful, boomed throughout the Shrine. She felt confused, what did it mean 'something greater'? A final task? Would this be her end? Thoughts swam in her head as the fog rose, obscuring her vision and clouding everything around it. She could remember being a part of it, a tangled web of memories, experiences and thoughts, but it had become eerily silent. She walked without knowing where she was going, her heart drawn to something she hadn't noticed before... a door.

Offer to us your Heart.

The door was intricately decorated with a swirling design in the shape of a heart, inlaid with six different gemstones. She recognized the ruby, sapphire and topaz, but the other colors were unfamiliar to her. She could hear the voices of the Goddesses on the other side, promising her untold blessings and promises of power. She couldn't go back, not now, and certainly not with the fog obscuring her vision. She pushed the door open and went inside.

At first, she felt tricked. Everything within this room was exactly the same. But it was deathly silent. She walked to the statues, knowing they would provide a clue to this mystery, when she noticed that they were not the same. Her Goddess, Ruin, was now carrying her staff, her mouth full of jagged teeth, her body aglow with an angry crimson light. The Goddess next to her, Paranoia, was more defined, her body covered in wires and cables, a power source embedded into her heart, making her body glow an artificial blue. Next to Paranoia, Longing loomed above her pedestal, her wide smile off-putting, tinged with insanity. Her glow was a bright purple, illuminating the barrettes in her hair, the hearts in her clothing, and the cookies on her tray. They all echoed a single, impossible request:

Sacrifice yourself for us.

Anni backed away from the statues, terrified. She looked around for an exit, and found that there were other shadow-figures being called to the new Shrine, their gazes focused on the Goddesses like zombies. The thing she noticed, was that they had hearts like hers, some ever-shifting into yellow-blue-red, some only one color throughout. She stared intently at their hearts, ones filled with new experiences, friendships, feelings, memories...

She could feel herself being drowned, a heart beating in her palm and a monster screaming a name that was not hers.... A cold, white room, and then she was running away, her heart being torn from her chest on a rickety bridge, a creature laughing above her... Annalise, her friend, calling to her...

They played in her mind, her heart resonating with the terrible pain and joy of remembering them... But they couldn't belong to her, they went against everything the Goddesses had taught her. A name formed on her lips, one that was not hers, but it felt so right... But why couldn't she remember it? She closed her eyes, and cried out in frustration.

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"Yet, you are still so little."

"You cannot escape forever."-

- "Or so it goes." -

She opened her eyes. Most of all, she remembered that it was the Goddesses themselves who had taken the memories from her. Anni felt anger and betrayal bubbling up from within her core, spreading darkness and hate... Why couldn't she remember? What else had they taken from her? They promised to guide her, to protect her... She turned toward their pedestals, her eyes narrowed into a glare, her heart cold with the feeling of disappointment.

"Thieves..." She whispered bitterly. "You lied to me!" She snarled at the Goddesses.

Crack!

The world shattered. The fog had lifted. There was a loud boom followed by more sounds of something breaking, splintering into a million pieces. There was nothing but the moon, inching closer, closer... Until there was nothing but red. She felt dread, confused... And then there was chaos. The shadow-figures did a multitude of things- screamed, cried, stared- some ran, some were frozen in shock. Anni could only watch, the red pulling her in, consuming her, until it caught her in its claws. Her heart seemed to become still, lost within the torrent of red. A malicious, raspy, voice she didn't recognize roared to the world below, it's words called to her, feeding on her anger, forcing her to say them: "I once would have been a Queen. The most beautiful Queen, the Greatest Queen. Yet my throne was torn from me, without mercy, without justice. False kings and prophets, wise children and brave knights will bow to my wrath and crumble until they are no more. I will give you all that you deserve until I, we, become once again, rightfully, a Queen. Your memories we gave to you to create far greater memories. Now, return your Hearts to us in this last and final task." Her voice dripped with venom. Anni walked foward, the sky splitting into red, green, gold...

- "Will you give up so much-

- "-when you have experienced so little in return?"

'Offer your heart' they all chanted. Well, they could have it...she didn't want her heart anymore. She pulled on it, a searing, pain shooting throughout her body, until finally, mercifully, she was free of the offending object.

Anni chose red, the only color she ever saw, Destruction.


"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

And then she faded.

OOC

show spoilerhide spoiler

Character Name: Anni Rohn
Character appearance: Grey, female shaped mist/fog. Her form is more solid with her latest Blessing, giving her outline long-layered hair tied back in a large bow, bangs swept to either side of her face, and an outfit consisting of a fitted top with white skull pin and flared, short skirt. She seems to be wearing boots and a long sleeved bolero with fingerless gloves, but it's hard to tell with the fog.
Link to Heart Log: Here
Current HP: 40
Current weapon equipped: Simple Grief
Pre-registered Ability: Wild Card Chance: If you roll an unfavourable dice result, you can reroll again. You can only do this three times outside the battle arena ever, wherever you want to use it. If there is an exception to this rule, it will be announced in the OOC of a thread posted.

He was called again, probably for another task. From the plague, it was suggested it was the last Trial. He read as he walked through the statues and stopped at the third one. Sacrifice them for you? He frowned, no reason he could do so. He continued and he noticed fog accumulated around, he was beckoned to a door, it wrote "Offer to us your Heart". He couldn't go back, after walking so long already.

The room behind the door was similar, in the case that the three Goddess Stautes were there, as well as four empty pedestals. However, he noticed that the colors of the Goddesses were changed: yellow to blue, blue to purple. There were figures, uniformly shaped and got a heart. He took a moment to look at his heart, while memories invaded his mind. It was too much to absorb that he got a temporary headache.

The situation was even worse, when the red moon changed. The raspy voice made him want to smash everything down. He didn't care whether she was a queen or not, he jut wanted it to stop. Return his heart? It wasn't a good idea. Luckily, the pain was gone when the red was joined by green and gold, silhouette of items were seen. "My name isn't Jaxa, it's -......" He couldn't continue the sentence.




So he had to make a decision: red, green or gold?

Of course, he would pick Destruction. As he made the choice in his mind, the green and gold faded away. If he had to sacrifice, he would pick something he liked most. Inside him, the dark side was calling for destroy things. He felt relaxed after each battle, it was just so enjoyable.

It hurts. But it didn't stop him from tearing it out.

Memories leaked out like gas.

It was just like returning to the starting point, he used to be part of the fog so it won't matter much.

Shishou.

She was a significant person to him.

It hurts.

He stepped forward, offering his precious heart.



The end of him?

That was where he's needed.

His fists were held tightly when she had to leave.

Someone was yelling at him, but it's too exhausted to open his eyes. He could hear quick footsteps running towards him.

"* * * * * * * *!" They shouted, but no sound coming out, just like they are muted.

His half-opened eyes finally closed.

(Claiming a post from my phone - Internet is down : (

NZ -- GREEN )

Manthas continued to be apart from the others, watching as one by one they all walked away picking their path, their sacrifice. Memories played out in her mind over and over all from someone who's name she couldn't even say. Was she even able to hear the others in the memory say it? It came our blurred and wrong but she knew they where talking to her or someone who might have been her.

One thing was clear, she was a terrible person. Deep down it all felt like she was committing something terrible and evil, every memory of attacking the creature who's heart she stole. Every memory from the other person where the underlying fear of having made a mistake. It was all ruin and destruction.

Slowly Manthas turned to the Red Goddess of Ruin, her statue tall and dangerous.

It wasn't hard, walking over to her, looking up the creature radiant with power and the promise to destroy. It wasn't even hard to reach into her chest, but it was hard to rip it out. She had made her choice and some force drove her to pull harder tugging and tugging till her heart slid free, painfully so. At once the world began to fade and fall to pieces. Memories and shadows moved towards her, a name was called out a name that felt ever so right and suddenly was gone, gone just like her and all her memories.

She stood, hand placed over her heart, feeling it beat.
This was it, the final trial. With this last task, she would be one step closer to becoming one of them, one of the goddesses. And then, she would understand her purpose, she would understand why she was here. Now was not a time to falter. There was no turning back, not after everything she had done.

With a deep breath, she stepped forward, entering the door. A hand was still on her heart, feeling it beat. Offer her heart? The idea still scared her a bit, but... if she didn't, she couldn't move forward, could she? But to sacrifice herself?

Though there were others around her, she barely paid any attention to them. Her hand was still over her heart, feeling the multitude of emotions swell within her.
She was... scared, yet excited. Terrified yet exhilarated. Just one more task, just one more trial to overcome, but this would be the hardest of all. Giving up her very heart, her very existence? There was something else. A name. Her name? She couldn't remember. What was this feeling, pulling at her, nagging her?

She ignored it. Ignored the voices. Ignored the blood red moon looming over her. She heard it speak, felt it, but she refused to let the red consume her. No. Ruin was not what she sought. The thing she sought was...

The red began to fade, green foliage and ruined temple passing into the background, lush green branches, vines, leaves, filled her vision. Hand still over her heart, she ignored the feeling, the terrible pain as she tore into it.
This was just a minor setback. But in the end, she would have what she sought. Knowledge was power, and with it, she could do what she wanted. With it, she would create her own path.

Creation was only the beginning.

He was hesitant, a little afraid even.

The tasks had left him shaken. The more he grew, the more he remembered, the more it spread through his veins like a disease. He was no hero, he was no leader. He was born to be one of those people the 'heros' stepped on, paving their way to the top with multiple bodies.

He was ok with this, oddly. He liked to be the one behind the scenes. The one out of the spotlight, away from the glory.

It was not vengeance, or pride, that made his decision for him. More of it spawned from how scared he was of the three goddesses. Red promised Pain. Gold promised Vanity. Green promised the knowledge behind the scenes, the background.

Fear is what brought him this far, and fear of the unknown is what ultimately made his decision. Reaching in for his blue heart... he pulled on it, and eventually sacrificed it knowing the knowledge would be worth it.