The little shadow bowed before the goddesses, paying her respects. They had protected her, helped her. They were her friends, and she trusted them, loved them. They would never hurt her, and she wanted nothing more than to please them, to make them happy. She hesitated as she stood before the door, hearing it beckon, but the words it spoke terrified her.
Offer to us your Heart.
But without a heart, could she still live? Could she still breathe, laugh, cry, hurt, feel joy, pain, sadness... Would she be able to do any of these things anymore?
All of this scared her, and she took a step back, but it continued to call her, reaching out to her. The goddesses were calling her, and she didn't dare refuse. They helped her, so wasn't it only fair she helped them back?
Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the door, shuddering as she saw the goddesses again.
Sacrifice yourself for us
Though she dared not defy them, she was still scared. Would it hurt? Would it hurt a lot? Would she cry from the pain? Would she never be able to see her friends again? She looked at the others around her, strangers at first, but now... now, she felt a bit closer with them. Bonded with them, shared memories with them. Her own heart was not the same brilliant yellow it was before, but was a multitude of colours, swirling about in her core. She didn't want to forget, she wanted to-
¥ø¨® †®¨´ ˜åµ´
"Yet, you are still so little."
"You cannot escape forever."-
- "Or so it goes." -
There was a name, a name she couldn't remember. But why? Why couldn't she? She trembled as the floor shook and the sky cracked, trembled as the red threatened to posses her whole. No, no, she didn't want this, it was so scary, she didn't... please.. no...
- "Will you give up so much-
- "-when you have experienced so little in return?"
She didn't want to. She was so so scared. Wasn't there another way? Why did she have to die? Dying was scary, she didn't want to die. But she had no choice. There was no other way. The goddesses cared for her, loved her. If she gave them her heart, they would take care of it, right?
And so, with shaky hands, her fingers dug into her chest, reached into her heart. It hurt, it hurt so much. She was crying, whimpering in pain, but she had to. There was no other way. The red, now tainted with gold and green, began to fade, until all that was left was a brilliant gold, a beautiful throne, marble floors, a long gold hallway.
"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
She didn't want to be forgotten. It promised, right? Promised that her legacy wouldn't be forgotten. There were voices, shouting, calling her, shaking her. They were saying a name she didn't no, but still... it made her happy.
No, she wouldn't be forgotten. With pride, she fell. No, her legacy would continue to live on.
OOC
Character name: Amaya Character appearance: A small feminine-looking shadow with a yellow core, has a strange black tag around her neck Link to Heart Log[x] Current HP 50/50 Current weapon equippedThe Defeated
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:46 am
Finally, the promise of an end. There had to be one; Amati couldn't, wouldn't, accept that their lives were only meant to be the uphill struggle of combat and servitude and sifting through memories like they were supposed to mean something. Maybe, once the final sacrifice had been made, they would all get answers. They deserved them. Amati didn't want their favor or their love or their power or their promises. She wanted their knowledge, their reasons for bringing all of them into this world. She wanted to know what happened next.
All they wanted in return, it seemed, was her heart.
Amati pushed the door open and marveled at how far she had come since the first time she'd been here. Only the barest similarities remained--the stillness, the statues, the multitude of glowing hearts--and even those were drastically different. The statues now displayed colors reflecting the liveliness they had displayed, and all of those hearts, once solid and identical shades of blue and yellow and red, shifted in color all by themselves. All of those little lights fueled by memories.
As much as Amati might want to discount her own past experiences, she knew that they had been instrumental in getting her to this point. Every battle fought had been a step forward; every regained memory a crumb leading her along. She wanted to keep going, but at the same time, she didn't want to give up everything she had worked for. She didn't know how she felt about that. On one hand, everything that had transpired since she first awakened had gone into shaping her heart into what it was now; the Goddesses had only provided the foundation upon which she had built the cathedral of experience and memory.
On the other hand, the idea of choice was superficial at best. Options were only an illusion when your path was already laid out for you; the destination would always be the same, no matter what roads you took to get there.
Suddenly, the time for indecision ended in a rush of burning red and searing words. Amati felt compelled to move forward, to give the voice whatever it wanted, until, just as suddenly, the blazing inferno was extinguished by green and gold. By the time spires of stone and wood finished growing around her, she had regained her senses enough to be aware of the choices suddenly laid out before her.
It didn't take her very long to consider them. There was no point to senseless destruction, and no use for pride or vanity. Knowledge was the only real power, and it was all she had ever wanted.
Her choice was easy.
OOC
Character name: Amati Character appearance: A slight teenaged girl in a simple slip dress and flats. The suggestion of long hair with the impression of something curling out of it. Wispy, fragmented wings drifting behind her. Glowing multicolored heart. A necklace with a white, skull-shaped pendant hangs around her neck. Link to Heart Loghere Current HP 50 Current weapon equipped Despair's Razor
That was her last Trial. Renayk was still alone, didn't found anyone seemed to be closer to her. She was dejected, she just let herself wrapped up by the fogs and opened the last door unwillingly. She still didn't know what she was searching for, the unsettling feels made her frowned up, her lips were pressed together into a thin thin line.
Offer to us your Heart.
She sighed. If the Goddess wanted her heart, she will give it to them, she was a prey, and a prey was meant to sacrifice for others. "Take it....if you want it." She didn't notice the color change of the Goddesses, she was too depressed to make a note from that. Separated by the fog were a group of weird figures, they seemed to be her kind, from the glowing little heart in the middle. Her heart. It was once in soft blue, now more complex, difficult to explain than one pure color.
Thump-thump.
Memories shot like thousands of arrows into her. She remembered. What happened in the trial, the sorrow and fear when her heart was being pulled out by a creepy figure. The warmth that she got from "her", Paranoia who said the Wall would protect her; and - the someone that she met in dream. They were all concentrated in a fast-forward film, spinning in her head. She collapsed under the pressure, while she seemed to hear the unison of the Goddess. She got something to say, a word, nope, a name to say, but everything she opened her mouth, nothing was there.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
She heard her heart beating fast, sweats dropped down and hands stretched and released a few times. It was almost there. Yet, she couldn't speak it out.
"Please." Even she was not sure what she was begging for. The shaking of the floor told her that it wasn't the right time to think about it. Something burned into her sight, she raised her head and found all the fogs were cleared. She was facing the blood red moon directly. She can't make her eyes off it, the reckless in her heart made the poor ghoul shivered, from head to toes. It seemed to get closer, closer and closer. Yet, utterly, she was dragging towards it instead.
A spiteful voice raised.
"I once would have been a Queen. The most beautiful Queen, the Greatest Queen." Each word burns into your skull, your eyes, it becomes you and you can't help but feel it, you can't help but live out each venomous letter, syllable, sentence being uttered in painstaking agony. "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."
She was really angry, each of the word from the Queen hurt the ghoul, she felt like scorched, or someone squeezing her head. She wanted to cover her ears, but she couldn't do so, she was being controlled. It was unbearable, she just hope she would stop soon. "All the memories were....created? I was created for this purpose?" She asked herself, in a big confusion and shocked from the truth.
Quote:
- "Will you give up so much-
- "-when you have experienced so little in return?"
The question was completed with two distinctive voices. It was right, that wasn't an exchange, it could be called - a sacrifice.
As the same time as she got the idea, the sky seemed to echo to her and then the red sky turned into a whirlpool, churning all the things in and suddenly it split, and gold and green can be seen. She wasn't no longer manipulated by the red.
Someone was talking to her in a dream, someone she jealous of and at the same time close to. He was calling her-
- Renayk wasn't her name, her name was hidden in the six letters, but she couldn't recall the correct sequence for it. Her true name.
Thing underwent changes when she was struggling to remember her name, from monochrome ruins to colorful lavish construction. The floor was in marble but she got no time to look around, a choice had to be made.
She listened to what the voices said carefully, so that she won't make a wrong decision. She was torn between Pride and Creation. On one hand, she didn't want to forget her memories. On the other hand, she wanted to know more about herself, knowledge is always appealing for a curious and question girl like her.
As her decision was made, she found another two colors faded away. Flourishing green in front of her eyes, vines and leaves, trees and branches, it was so refreshing. She knew it was waiting, so she slowly closed her eyes and took her precious heart out.
It was so painful that she even wanted to stop, however, she made the choice already. Memories she just gained escaped from her like a mass of gases, feeble and uncatchable. Nothing could be done.
"It's Uchitel's birthday soon, let's make a cake."
"I can't come back...I have things to do."
"From now on, you are the only one *******"
"......I have to go"
The heart was scooped in her hands, she bore the sorrow and pain involved and step forward unsteadily towards the crown.
"Here you are, please treasure it...It's all I've got." A tear dropped onto the glowing heart.
"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
Without the heart, memories drained away from the empty shell, it was useless to resist.
"Hiya. That's the first time we met?" He said with a smile. He looked like her twin, and he appeared in her memory many time.
"Easy! It wasn't the taste that matters, but the heart within it."
"******. That wasn't my name, but yours also."
Her memories.....
Figures were surrounding her, shouting something. She collapsed as they ran towards her, waking her up with shakes. However, she was too tired to hear that.
So tired that she closed her eyes.
OOC
Character name: Renayk Character appearance: A shy, maybe blushing grey with a soft blue glowy core. Unexpectedly, she could do some decent critical attacks sometimes. Got a weird jet black tag around her neck. Link to Heart Log:❤ Current HP: 40 /40 Current weapon equippedSimple Creation: 2d8 -6; HP: 40
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:36 pm
The white fog had snuck up on him, filling the room and hiding away the Goddesses he had come to see. They had called to him like so many times before, they had stood there on their pedestals but now all he saw was endless fog. And all he heard were voices that could not quite make it through, whispering a name he could not fully hear.
But there was an even greater call, whispered promises and an end. A final door to push through with only a small request. There was no turning back now, not like he would. He needed to push forward, wanted to. Liom pressed his hand upon the door and stepped through.
It was silent on the other end, no voices no whispers. Just silence as the Goddesses sat on their pedestals, their colors shifted and different, it was hard not to notice really. Deeper red, yellow to blue and blue to violet. He wondered if they could change colors as well.
There were others here as well, shadowed formed like he once perhaps was as he was the fog. They were shaped oddly, moving about but oddly familiar. They were different but they felt the same, they had the same heart emanating like his own. They resonated the same, familiar from old and new. Memories. They were swelling in his heart, awakening and grabbing hold. He could feel those that he lost return to him, changing his heart into a multitude of color and not just red to which he first started.
He could feel something try to push through. A name. He knew it only to be as much but it never surfaced.
What did came with a thundering crack, splitting through the fog and engulfing the white in a familiar red. Liom stared all around him as the color shifted and turned his eyes skyward to the moon he paid not much attention to. It had been waning this whole time but now it was full and a little terrifying (and actually a little cool looking). Its voice was loud and filled with rage, burning her speech into his skull. He could feel each word as they screamed were screamed into him, tempted to cover his ears with his hand. But how much would that do, he wondered. Probably not much.
Her last demands left her moony lips and finally he knew at least something. Something that made sense, his final task for his heart to undertake.
The last one.
Liom stepped forward, ready to give what was needed. But another set of voices broke through, pushing back the red to add their own. Gold and Green, taking their place among the ruins with foliage and gold filigree. The sky was a mess now, the colors fighting for dominance. But the war in his heart had at least subsided. And now he knew something he hadn't before.
This was not his true name. But he still couldn't find it.
But maybe he could. He had a choice now, and perhaps it was the time to get answers (even though he really did like just going in without thinking, it was nice but this would be nice to).
It was like the colors knew, the green took over, the life pushing past the ruin and the ornate. It made things simple and ancient. It presented Creation and that's where he chose to gave his heart. (Plus, green was a pretty awesome color).
It hurt to do it, he didn't know why it had to be done. But fingers tore into grey skin, pushing and grabbing, tearing at flesh. He could feel the memories slip out, washing away like grains of sand on the beach. Soon his heart was out and the memories shattered around him.
"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
But above all else, he heard the voices shouting at him, trying to call his name.
OOC
Character name: Liom Character appearance: A male shaped shadow with a red heart, a pendant hangs around his neck. Is that.. a tie? Link to Heart Log[ x ] Current HP 50/50 Current weapon equipped Despair's Razor
Ixb held his pendant as if it were lifeline. Above his fluttering blue heart he clung to it as if it were his last hope. His Goddess was purple now and he frowned. He preferred the blue, to be honest, but... why couldn't he just go with her? Why another choice? His eyes caught the small owl in her hair. It was familiar to him but... ugh.. he just couldn't find the connections in his mind to tell him why.
When the red moon became all encompassing, he was terrified. He was frozen in place. Even as the gold and green held it back, pulled the light into bits that broke apart around him.. he was frightened.
Red would not be his choice.
The gold drew to him, to not be forgotten? It sounded nice. The idea of it was appealing but... he didn't feel like glory was a desire of his. He just didn't feel it in his core.
He wouldn't think much about the final choice but knowledge definitely sounded good. He wanted to know more... about everything. Including himself.
Ixb pressed forward into Creation. The greenery parting to show him the crown. It encompassed his vision until all he could see was the prize ahead. But... it needed him. His heart.
Was this even for the Goddesses anymore? Who was this for? For him? Somewhere in his mind some doubt told him to do it. He was a follower, not a leader. Give in. Give the heart.
Before he could realize he was doing it, Ixb's heart was in his hand. It was... so big. Bigger than he could have imagined.
It was the last thing he saw with these eyes.
OOC
Character name: Ixb (pronounced Ib) Character appearance: A tall, lanky pale figure with a blue heart. A pendant bobbles at his chest. Link to Heart LogHere Current HP 50/50 Current weapon equipped Pain Spike (50hp, 2d10 - 6 )
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:44 pm
After some thought, Nush went and approached destruction. Soon, he was enveloped in a sea of red. It made sense. If anything, it seemed he was really only good at destruction, one way or another. He placed his hand to his chest again and began to remove his heart.
It felt awful.
A part of him didn't want to go through with this. A part of him fought against this but it was far too late now. His core soon was ripped out . With it in hand, he shakily stepped forth an offered it to Destruction. Pain was coursing through his entire being, and he could feel himself growing weaker by the moment.
In the distance, he could hear voices calling out for him. They received no reply as he closed his eye.
Blade Kuroda
Militant Raider
Offline
Inu-Mitsu
Werewolf
Offline
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:45 pm
The fog was familiar and maybe even comforting. She had been like it once, drifting and stirring. She knew that much but unfortunately she couldn’t stay. The shrine was calling and she knew she needed to answer so she went. Upon arrival she was face with door inscribed with a sentence she couldn’t help but linger on.
“Offer to us your heart?” She whispered.
She didn’t feel like she had much of a choice anymore. The journey had taken her this far it was only right to see it through to the end. Plus the promises that were made by the Goddess’, they were hard to just overlook.
Opening the door Tsumi pressed her way through and found that it was quiet and still. Everything looked mostly the same except the Goddesses were different somehow, like their colors had shifted. As she stood there facing the goddesses Tsumi noticed something else. There were others around her, singular shapes just like her with this power emanating from them. Their heart. She could feel them and knew what they were. Memories, new and old.
She looked down at her own heart then seeing the multitude of colors and feeling the mix of emotions that she now had. Slowly, things began to come back. Not completely but little things began to fill in the cracks. Memories that she had regained that had only been taken again. She knew this name she had wasn’t her true name but…what was her true name? Tsumi thought long and hard but it wouldn’t come to her, it was still lost in the jumble or maybe it wasn’t there at all.
Everything felt so close now, jumbled up together. Her experiences and memories all coming together to make up who she used to be but suddenly there was something more pressing. As she looked up the sky turned a bright red. Looming closer she swore she could hear a voice, raspy, and unfamiliar.
After the voice spoke she didn’t know what to think but she suppose the choice was clear. Her heart belonged to them after all. She started to step forward when she was only interrupted again as gold and green began to swirl in the sky. Tsumi watched as they battled for a sort of dominance, churning up the sky with the three colors. Once everything settled she found herself face with the same situation but with choices. Who should she choose?
It actually took a bit of time and thinking. Reasoning perhaps though her past experiences, which would have been useful she imagined, were limited. Finally, she settled on one true choice and as she stepped closer to creation she knew what she had to do.
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:52 pm
Once more, Igny felt too small. The feeling had haunted her as she adventured around this world. The buildings were too big, the spire too tall, and she was too small. It was always hard to reach for things. She needed help from others when it came to seeing objects in the distance.
More than physically. Her foresight was so small compared to the goddesses. It always seemed they were one step ahead of her. She couldn't do anything without them.
Was that love?
Your fourth and final Trial is near. Your fragments will be tested, do not falter. You will not be forgotten.
Igny stared at ruin, trying to discern some meaning. She understood this goddess least. Fighting, angry red colors. Igny didn't understand.
A wall does not protect, a wall can only buy you time. A wall can only give you what you need to carry on.
Paranoia. She had always been the most beautiful to Igny. There was a twinge of sadness in her heart for the yellow goddess. It seemed like there was more she wanted to do with this world. She read the plaque carefully, taking the goddess' words in slowly. The wall wouldn't protect her? If the wall couldn't protect her ... who would?
She would need to protect herself. Igny nodded at the statue.
Your fragments, your memories will guide the way. Sacrifice them for us. We love you most.
Igny loved this goddess most. The blue one had been kind, warm. Friendly. She was the only goddess who spoke of loving one another, of friendship. Igny could stand behind a goddess like this. She nodded at the goddess- a sacrifice had to be made.
She understood what they were asking her, even if it was not asked plainly. The fog picked up once more, and Igny didn't have the chance to ask.
A door sat before her. It was beautiful, all colorful and sparkling. Igny's breath was held as she watched it. This was it. It truly was the final task, wasn't it? This was the end.
The end.
Everything was quiet as she approached the door. She hadn't felt a silence so shocking to her core since she'd awakened. It seemed she'd come back to the beginning.
Offer to us your Heart.
Igny walked through the door.
---
Sacrifice yourself for us.
Sacrifice yourself for us.
Sacrifice yourself for us.
The chanting rang in her ears as the brightness of the goddesses phased her. Her eyes clung to the goddesses, but she couldn't help but notice the other figures that joined her. Others with pulsing, beating hearts like her own.
Igny found herself glancing down at her own heart. It was red, yellow, black, purple- so many colors. It settled on one color for a moment.
Blue. The color she'd began with. She was still Igny. Igny with new emotions, new friends, strange hallucinations, cuts, bruises, beats.
Memories.
The word hung on her lips. It was like a fruit, a grape resting in the curve of her tongue. It never came. The word drooped, dripped, but didn't come.
A crack split the sky, split the very fabric of existence. She didn't have time to be concerned with the word, not with the angry eyes staring at her through a red plate in the sky. Igny fell backwards on herself, shivering with fear. Even after all she had been through, she still wasn't fearless. Igny would always be jumpy, frightened.
But not cowardly.
"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."
Igny listened with fear rocking her to her core. Who was this woman? Was it a goddess- no, it didn't sound like her wonderful goddess. It sounded leathery, rough. It was angry, cracked, brutal. Powerful.
The sky erupted into a mixture of colors. Red, yellow, green. Igny watched in fear of the power on the ground as they asked so much of her. They could have asked anything of her and she probably would have given it. Igny would have done anything.
Igny?
She wasn't Igny?
Realization dawned on her. She was not Igny. She was never Igny. She would never be Igny.
Then who was she ...
Three choices lay in front of her. Green. Yellow. Red.
Creation. Destruction. Pride.
Igny (or whoever she was now) knew there was only one choice for her. She didn't want to destroy. She wasn't fond of being unforgettable. She wanted to create. She wanted to create a new world for everyone. One that everyone could exist in happily. No more fighting enemies. No more daunting tasks put on by goddesses that didn't explain anything to them. She wanted to create happiness. Happiness for everyone. Hardships would still exist- they would always exist- but it would be by choice. Not forced upon them.
Foliage erupted around her, Igny ducked. Trees, ferns, leaves- everything was a shining green and gold color. Vines twined across her vision like a lattice, and upon them sat a shining crown.
It was time.
Her tiny, shaking hand lay on her chest. She thought of Jing's hands in the pizza place. It had been warm. Now she felt nothing- her hand was neither cold nor warm. Was it there at all?
The pain told her it was. It ripped across her being, screaming into every orifice, every molecule of her body. Memories flashed across her skull, plyaing more rapidly than she could hope to catch up with. Palem's smile. Finale's protection. Jing's arms. ReDawn's trepidation. Lan's flowers.
She couldn't go. Not yet. Not without- ...
Not without - ...
...
Her heart belonged to him. To her. To creation.
She offered the beating, pulsing heart, feeling everything at once. No.
Now it was nothing at all.
"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
Igny fell to the ground, knees weak to the pain and the loss. Dirt crunched against her legs, a loud thump as her body slumped to the ground. She felt hands shaking her, someone important, but she was too tired. Her eyes fluttered closed. No, it wasn't Igny that fell to the ground.
It was Ying.
OOC
Character name: Igny Character appearance: A very small shadow that appears to have small, four petaled flowers coming out of it. A somber blue heart in the center of her chest. A bright red spiral on her forehead. Link to Heart Loghere Current HP 40/40 Current weapon equipped: Sorrow and Rage
chiickadee
Princess Hoarder
Offline
chirigami
Swashbuckling Sentai
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:15 pm
Viola'i had tried to keep a smile upon her face, even though the pain and the numbness and the fights and the battles. Through the memories that had been given and pulled away and those that tried so hard to surface and stick. She looked up at the Goddess statues still with her lips curled upward, waiting to hear what they needed of her, they had called after all.
But they didn't answer. Not at first, unless the fog that rolled in and filled the room was what they needed to say. She didn't think so, these weren't their voices that she heard - or maybe it was? But she could feel the call, more than she could hear it and soon, as she turned, her eyes fell upon a door. Perhaps what had been calling to her instead.
The small girl looked upon it, wonder in her eyes as she read what it asked. Offer us your Heart.
Seemed like the only thing to do, she pushed against the door and stepped through, greeted by silence and the statues once more. This time pulsing with color, a beat and then they were different. Their new colors illuminating the air and making it known that she was really not alone, but surrounded with the fog and figures she could not recognize at first. But in her heart, she felt it that they were the same. Their hearts resonated as hers did, they shares memories with her. Ones she had thought to have lost and now gained again and ones she had formed in this place. They were together in this and that could only make her smile more.
Even as the moon pushed through, casting its red glow upon everything and tried to fill her with dread. She simply stared up to it as it filled the air with its vile words, its proclamation and its demands. This was their final task and it still wanted her heart.
Viola'i wondered if she would have to give her heart to the moon that shone above her, to give into the terrifying feeling that she tried to push away with smile. She kind of didn't want to. And soon she found she didn't need to as the Green and the Gold made themselves known, pushing their influence and color upon the landscape. Giving her a choice.
Letting her know that there was so much more.
There was always so much more, always choices for her to have to make, there had been one somewhere else, hadn't there? They always confused her, trying to pull her into so many directions. But maybe this time she could make one, take the path she hadn't that one time and follow ....
Viola'i gave herself to gold, and went towards the path of Pride. Maybe not so much as to be forgotten, as terrible as that would be, but also so she wouldn't forget.
But fate never was so kind, each tear she made to flesh, to gift her heart, tore apart a memory she had finally come to grasp. That was the most painful part, not her fingers but losing what she had gained. But there was no turning back and she tugged on the pulsing core within her and pulled as silent tears slid down her cheeks.
She could hear them, above all else. Trying to call for her. Her name, they knew her name. Maybe....
OOC
Character name: Viola'i Character appearance: A female shaped shadow with a yellow heart and a white skullpin upon her chest that seems to be attached to a ribbon.. Link to Heart Log [[ x ] Current HP 80/80 Current weapon equipped Suffocation
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 1:18 pm
She enters the shrine, Naiad had heard it calling her near in her heart and had come to see what the goddesses had needed this time. As before she enters a large open room and sees several columns on each side with a single one in the middle of the room. That one is surrounded by seven pedestals. Each with their own plaque but only three have very familiar statues.
She knows that it is time for her final task and steps up. Then the fog awakens again and she hears someone calling. She can't see the person but she feels it from inside her, from her very existence and it beckons, whispers to her. Naiad feels welcomed to come towards it. Now there is white all around her, Naiad know she was once this fog, this cauldron of thoughts and broken memories spun together in an eternal limbo. However it is now oddly quiet no memories at all. Naiad steps forward and sees a door in front of her, on it, inscribed a single sentence.
Offer to us your Heart.
She knows she cannot turn back, not when she is so close. She can hear the promises of the goddesses tantalizing her from the shadows of her heart. She knows that now that she has come this far she cannot go back the same way she came, not one that has already become undone. With these thoughts she opens the final door.
It seems quiet to Naiad, however it always is. The first thing past that she notices is that the room at the other ends looks the exact same, with only very slight, minute changes. The color of the goddess seem slightly off from before, just slightly.
Sacrifice yourself for us
Is what she reads on each of the goddesses plaques. Looking past them though she sees four more pedestals, but these ones too are empty and blank. Then she notices something else. Others, like herself yet different, separate from the fog around them. They themselves each have strange shapes to their own bodies. Yet that seems irrelevant to Naiad. For she can only see one thing from them, their power, their heart, the very same warmth as herself.
She recognized these Hearts. These are the same that her own Heart resonated with, that she created new and old memories with and shared them with and borrowed from her own and ultimately became something far more deeper than a singular color. You look down at your Heart now. It is a multitude of colors, full of strange, mixed emotions and more than emotions, Memories. She can see them spinning in her heart, the one that the goddesses had taken in their tasks then regained. The memories that feel closest to her and her alone. The memories that her heart resonates and aches with as if they are your own.The ones that she feels like they should be hers, could have been hers, if they were not so strange and different from all that Naiad have been taught by the Goddesses themselves
Then she feels a word surface in her throat, but it gets caught into an odd choked silence. A word, a name. A name that she knows should be familiar however for the life of her she cannot remember no matter the amount of memories that come back.
She feels like it is so close, mixed up and jumbled within her heart, her experiences, blessings, and interactions. Closing her eyes she tries again to remember, but it seemed now was not the time. She feels a sense of urgency as the floor below begins to shake and a searing red burns through her eyelids causing her to yelp in pain as a load crack followed by a louder series of cracks goes through the room.
Then she looks up and the sky burns deep red. The fog goes away and she can see above her perfectly. However she can only see a singular orb of red, the moon moving closer and closer. Shivering as it nears she can feel dread, confusion, and then chaos sweep through her. The red seems to be sucking her in, calling her, beckoning her as it has already grasped her in its claws and taken her for its own. Her heart is just about to be lost to it when she hears a voice, raspy, thick, unfamiliar, crackling with unknown malice.
"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."
The words seem to burn into Naiad's skull, her eyes, and she cannot help but feel it as it becomes her. She cannot help the feelings as she feels herself live out each venomous letter, syllable, sentence being uttered in painstaking agony. Before she feels herself moving forward. Slowly, only one step at a time. Her heart, her memories belong to them after all. She knows now that this is the last task, that she will become something greater for this, that this is her last journey.
- "Will you give up so much-
- "-when you have experienced so little in return?"-
She hears as the sky churns above her. Not that she sees through her closed eyes. The result of the battle though she feels. She no longer feels as if she is being consumed by the red. Naiad finds her mind at peace and so are her memories. Then she remembers something even more important. That her name is not her true name, that she even has one, even if she still cannot remember it.
Naiad shivers slightly as she watches the sky quiver and threaten to tear further apart as the earth below changes. The ruined grey buildings turn into large dense pieces of foliage before warping into a brilliant shimmering castle in the distance. She watches as towers erupt from the base of the shrine and the ground becomes ornate and marbled. Then the foliage grows thicker, the tree roots spinning wildly out of control, consuming the red around them.
Naiad realizes that she is faced with a choice now. She could choose which of the colors to go to, the red of destruction, the gold of pride, or the green of creation. Naiad already knew her answer, she had chosen it at the shrine before, but in a different form. Vanity and Pride go together after all.
Then as she makes her choice, in her eyes she sees the green foliage and the ruined temple fade away until all that there is to see is marbles floors and a rich, golden throne in a long, gold hallway. Smiling Naiad steps forward as she sees that there is a crown waiting for her. As she moves she places her hand against her heart. The reason for this was because of the terrible feeling inside it, she knows part of her regrets this choice. However she feels as if the choice is no longer hers and each struggle to the contrary breaks apart a memory inside.
Naiad let out a whimper as she finally tore her heart out, her eyes wet at the pain of memories and of the offering. Holding it forward she realizes now that it belongs to Pride. She steps forward, offering it to pride.
"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."
The pain brings her to her knees as her heart is taken fully from her, without one she shivers as the memories trickle out of her. The shouting, the talking, the odd figures slowly draining from her startle her. However, even as those figments run towards her shouting something, her true name, she does not hear them as she does not want to yet. She does not feel them as they shake her because she closes her mind to the memories. She does not let it affect her as she had made her choice and the pain had taken over.
Her choice would not be in vain, Pride had said so, she let her eyes close.
The Shrine called out to him, and he knew the final task had come at last. What would the Goddesses have him do next, he wondered? Linswo arrived quietly, hands deep in his coat pockets. It was such a shame to have everything end so soon. There was still so much he didn’t know and understand. Curiosity led him toward the center of the room with the Goddesses’ statues. He read each plaque with silent care. He wouldn’t be forgotten. A wall could only give what he needed to move on. His memories would light the way. He felt like he needed more context, more elaboration, but he would have to press forward. A silent glance to the empty podiums before the fog urged him forward.
Dead silence when he stopped in front of the colorful door with a unique design. His gaze wandered toward the sentence etched onto it, Offer to us your Heart. “…” He didn’t need to turn around to see there was no way to return the way he came. It was either continue on or stay here for the rest of his existence, perhaps until he returned back to the fog. Linswo reached for the door.
The statues have shifted slightly. Sacrifice yourself for us. He stepped back, unsure if he would comply. Nervous, Linswo looked around at the figures also inside the room. He could see familiar faces. Familiar. It was weird to realize that he recognized a number of these figures and they too recognized him. They had talked with each other, made connections. They had forged new memories and shared old ones, taking and receiving. He was more than just dark blue. When he placed a hand over his Heart, he could feel the glimpses of red and yellow, green and purple, a myriad of colors and emotions.
He had forgotten, but not anymore. His taken memories returned, rushing into his head with alarming speed that it almost hurt. He remembered the sharp twinges of confusion and regret, calm happiness and joy. He could even remember the chilling snip snip of scissors as the figure chased him. The moments were a mixture of bitter and sweet and moments the Goddesses had taken from him for better or worse. Linswo wanted to say the memories were his, but when compared to the current situation, it was like matching two completely different puzzle pieces together. It didn’t make sense.
But there was something hanging on the tip of his tongue. A name. He had a name, but this name was different. It was his real name. He could feel it. What was his real name? It was…?
Something seemed to grab his Heart and he stiffened. The floor began to shake until a crack roared, then another. His vision filled with blinding red and—
The moon. The sky. It was all red. He managed not to shudder when the moon advanced toward him, chaos and confusion swirling around him, pulling him closer and closer until he was sucked in completely by deep red. Return his Heart. It was a simple enough command, but there was too much noise going on inside his head. But somehow he stepped forward, each step growing more confident as green and gold bled into the sky. He stared at the green foliage and gold embellishments. He was faced with a choice, but it didn’t take him long to decide. The red and gold faded until he saw only calming green.
OOC
Character name: Linswo Character appearance: A shadow, just like anyone else. He doesn’t really possess unique features, but it seems he wears goggles on his head...? He stands at a somewhat tall height and his core is dark blue. Link to Heart Loglink Current HP 60 Current weapon equipped Grief Cutter
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:02 pm
A very slow, predatory smile lifted his cheeks when she called his heart impressive. He was easily complimented, and he let the thought that his heart was probably one of the best, biggest, most awesome hearts ever fill him up with pride.
"All right, sugar." He bent in all the way, and kissed her nose. "And you make sure to tell the goddesses that you're ready for your pedestal. 'Cause I says, you are."
He picked up one of her braids, and toyed with the end. It was just another stalling technique. "I hope I see you soon. Otherwise I'm.. gonna miss you like hell."
That. That was the best goodbye he could actually muster. He bumped his forehead with hers, and turned on his heel, heading for the only pedestal he felt worth his presence. He wasn't here to create, and he wasn't here to destroy - but he was damn well proud of who he was, anyway.
Both meaty hands tore into his thick chest, a process that took longer than he'd hoped. He pulled out the pretty gem of a heart; it was yellow in its core, but the edges were dancing with rainbows. All in all, a good heart. A strong heart. And, even though he sacrificed it, it was still his.
He put it down on the gold pedestal and started to turn to look at her one last time -
The room was quiet. Only a few changes distinguished the new layout from old, and Raumias was relatively nonplussed by her situation. She did not, however, expect her insides to twist in pain as she realized that she would have to sacrifice her heart, and as those ever-familiar memories pressed against the borders of her consciousness. They were unknowable, unreachable: she could not touch them, no matter how close they were to her, no matter how much she wanted to.
Instead, she realized that on top of these things, there was a name she could not recall, one that was so important, once. A loud crack interrupted her mind, interrupted her efforts to remember, and a blinding red light burnt through everything she thought and felt.
The moon, the sky: all were on fire in their own way, and a voice that called out to her felt like hot knives raking through her mind and body. There was no inch of her exempt from its wrath, she did not, by any means, wish to throw her lot in with its hateful gaze, but...
She could use that kind of power. If she could take it, use it without allowing it to distort and corrupt her, perhaps she would have hope. Raumias approached the pedestal of Ruin, and offered her heart to it, tearing it free from her body, the body once shaped by fog.
”If I made the right choice, why the agony?” she asked, quietly, as a chorus of her true name rose around her: Amarus, Amarus, Amarus!
If only the people she loved, if only the ones she cared for, could have brought her back before she’d given in to the wrath: she felt this briefly, before everything faded away.
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:29 pm
Well, when he said her name like that, all stretched out and unnatural, of course it was going to sound bad! She wrinkled up her own nose at the sound of it, and gave her head a small shake. "No, you are right. It doesn't fit....Koshabi." She said his name, more to test it then anything. Tacking on his name to the end of that sentence though, a name that was so foreign to her tongue. No, Growly Man and a** both had come more naturally then that name had.
"I would care to remember it, if I thought it was worth remembering, or if it would even matter." Because soon she would be sacrificing herself, her heart, her very core, and what would be left of her then? What would be left of her to remember that particular name, or any name at all?
His words as he told her what his choice would be rang out more like a promise then a statement, that only destruction remained and that was the only obvious choice. A part of her agreed with him, a part of her that echoed his sentiments, the part of her that had so willingly thrown her head first into so many battles, into so many situations where destruction of the enemy was key.
But there was also a memory of destruction, a memory that left a bitter taste in her mouth, one that even now stirred inside of her, reminding her that destruction was unpredictable, and could lash back on any who tried to wield it. Still, she would not begrudge him his choice by mentioning it, but merely felt a small pang of sadness at the knowledge that their choices would not be the same....even though she doubted that it would matter, either.
For whatever reason, and simply following a strange desire, an urge, she reached out for his hand and gave it a light squeeze, her earlier grin fading into a sad smile. "It has been...nice to have known you." She left out his name, the one given, or the ones she had made for him, deciding that she no longer wished to call him by anything but whatever he was meant to be called. "But now I will part ways. My choice lies in a different direction then your own. Destruction,,,,it is not everything." And that was the only explanation she could offer as to why his choice was not her own, though she was sure no explanation was truly necessary. Why was she telling him this? Did she honestly believe he might care?
She had been drawn to him, for whatever reason. Perhaps she just wanted to find peace between them before the end.
OOC
Character name: Sheenah Character appearance: Tall figure, winged, heart of gold Link to Heart LogHere Current HP 80/80 Current weapon equipped Sorrow and Rage. 2d10-6, 40 HP, 3d10-6 once per battle
Seussi
Ice-Cold Hunter
Offline
Inle-roo
Offline
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:40 pm
Vane came at the Goddess' request, as he always had and always would. Doing as they asked of him was a small price to pay for the life he had been granted. Now, however, he found himself reluctant to give them what they wanted. He had enjoyed this life, mostly, even with the often painful memories that accompanied it. He had sacrificed everything else, though: his own desires, his memories, his--his name, he thought abruptly, although he couldn't recall ever being called anything other than Vane.
He would sacrifice his heart, too, but only mostly because the Goddesses wanted it. He wanted to take that final step, to become more than just a tool for them to use. He wanted to forget all of the bad memories and only hold onto the few happy fragments, but he knew he it didn't work that way. It was all or nothing.
That was fine--well, no, it wasn't fine, he was pretty much going to die--but he wouldn't fight it. He couldn't have, even if he had wanted to, and he did want to just because fighting was in his nature. This wasn't a battle, though. This wasn't even a skirmish. This was...this was a compromise. They wanted his heart with everything that came with it, and he wanted the moreness and the greater things that they were promising. He could accept that. It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.
When the sky turned red and the moon demanded his heart, he gave it willingly. He didn't care about being remembered, or what knowledge the Goddesses were promising. He wanted the strength to carry on even after his heart was gone. He wanted power, and he would get it by any means necessary.
OOC
Character name: Vane Character appearance: A tall man with short hair in a simple t-shirt, pants, and boots. Glowing multicolored heart. A necklace with a blue pendant hangs around his neck. Link to Heart Loghere Current HP 50 Current weapon equipped Pain Spike
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