{ And Now, These Shining Worlds We Shall Consume! } { Dismiss }
The light was all but gone now, the spiraling wall of flame the only thing allowing them to see. But in their throes, they obliterated their enemies with seeming impunity.
Kyla’s destructive Birn Strike rose from the ground, striking out at the all-seeing shadow above them, and with a radiant flash, the bird-construct exploded, shedding light everywhere like a supernova. Amy’s sky-searing storm of shards caused hundreds of tiny, star-like detonations as well, ripping into the shadowy abyss above them. Dawn, in her maternal fury, unleashed her own ferocious bladed-tessen powered by winds and shattered limitations, ripping and slicing through layer after layer, piece after piece of shadow. And Joe, with all the contempt he and his summon could mutually muster, called forth the power of space and gravity on the darkness mere instants after Kyla’s own assault, detonating a large area at the core with the force of a star’s collapse.
The entity gave a heart-stilling screech, much like all the tendrils before—in that brief moment, they knew its body had been wounded. The intensity of their conviction would, perhaps, have been plain to see in the aftermath—had they not, of course, forgotten the lesson one had revealed earlier.
The shriek was shortly followed by rain. This, however, was more like a monsoon, a torrential downpour that would drench a man to bone in seconds, like some biblical flood. But rather than the humidity of a seasonal storm, every single drop brought the searing, burning condemnation of pain, suffering, and malevolence—manifest darkness, ripped and torn and blasted from the body of the great presence above. If they were looking up, it blinded them like caustic acid first before scouring every inch of their clothing and skin in unholy agony. It lasted for nearly half a minute, but every second felt like a year of pain as millions of drops of tainted blood fell upon them.
When at last it ended, there was a stillness to the area not unlike what had happened when they first appeared, staring at Louis. The rain had put out the twisting blaze surrounding them, but above, they could once again clearly a distant light, where the two helix-like beams collided and rained down upon them shards of memory. With these tiny shimmering flecks filling their vision, they could once again see everything around them.
The platform they stood upon could no longer be called a Station of Awakening; to do so would be a cruel mockery of what had been done. In the heat of battle, the glass mosaic was utterly demolished, and what few colorful shards might have remained had long since been swept off into nothing. Beneath their feet now was just fractured, destroyed stone; whatever had given the station its light, shining from below the glass, was gone, like so much else.
Before they could even consider what such dilapidation might imply, they would have felt the chill run down their spines, along their skin, down into their lungs. Because now, with the light of the memories, they could see that where once had simply been a void surrounding them… was that same grotesque manifestation of darkness. All around them was what seemed like a wall of throbbing flesh or writhing muscle, littered with tiny eyes, all focused on them, staring at them, into them. And the wall was growing.
No, not growing. Regenerating.
It began to rise up above them, bending toward the center, closing off above them and once again blocking the cascading shards, leaving only the dim lights of the eyes to give them vision. The Darkness, over the course of the battle, had enclosed them in a dome—and now, as its seven primary eyes opened once more, an eighth dangerously close to having a functioning pupil, the dome was complete.
The eyes closed, and the air around them rushed upward as a deep groan filled the air. They would feel a sudden grip on their hearts, a tightness in their chests, and then, as an unconscious tug of their own minds opened their mouths for them, dark mist exited their throats, pulled upward into the inhaling mass… which then sighed, as if content.
The brush of unnatural air seemed to dance around them, and they could feel their own magics twist. Forms and spells came to an end. Heartbound weapons disappeared. And the fallen all simultaneously sucked in a breath of air, their consciousness restored—though their bodies remained weak, unhealed, untended. Even those blinded by the blood rain suddenly felt the pain in their eyes wash away, though they could do or say little. Indeed, something about that breath silenced their own; they could not will themselves to speak, could not even manage to resist staring up at the monstrosity.
“So fall the final shards!” the collective called out in an excited whisper. The eyes all seemed to dance around them, the darkness wriggling, their own shadows dancing unnaturally beneath them—from where did they even form without direct light?
The laughter from before returned, but was soft, more like a million-fold audience chuckling in disbelief.
“Ill fates, false hopes, ne’ermore shall light grant strength,” they whispered, their voices growing from excited to jubilant, from a whisper to hushed chatter. And the laughter only grew—everything about the scene was disorienting. But was that mentally, or…?
“Yet still you struggle?” they asked, louder, clearer, the laughter softening momentarily as they spoke—only to burst out again, louder than before, more frantic. No, they could tell now, it wasn’t simply exhaustion or fatigue making them feel disoriented, something about the atmosphere itself was making their senses falter. “Your ends are written.”
The world around them trembled—or maybe they trembled—and the disorientation escalated, everything blurring, their hearing, sight, even their sense of taste, touch, and smell seemed to go haywire as the world stopped making sense.
The voices, as always, pervaded them, barraging their senses beyond comprehension. It was almost as if they could see the words in the air, but even those shook, moving to and fro without rhyme or reason. The laughter was manic now, shaking their bones and tendons.
“Gaze now upon your fate: the bound’ries fray!”
The chorus sounded more unified then, more coalesced beyond hope, and as their eyes drew upward, they bore witness to the eyes and tumors of shadow seemed to sink into the shaking void beyond. But no, they could see now it was no void, no emptiness or abyss—what they saw was nothing less than a veil, a darkly shimmering border between them and beyond, appearing like velvety oil.
And something was pressing forward.
All around them was chaos and cacophony, laughter and horror. They ached with each breath, their heads throbbed as their eyes remained open, their very being strained under some invisible pressure, resisting yet faltering against everything. Their conscious minds roared that nothing made sense, that this was all a fallacy, but their guts and instincts rebuked and wailed that no, this was true, this was here, this was real…
… as above them, where once had been an abomination of eyes and corruption, a living face began to push against, through the veil between, the details of its expression made clear as if only a thin piece of silk was being held tightly against its features.
It smiled far too widely.
Suddenly, Kyla found herself ripped underground by the tendrils, swallowed by endless darkness. Like all the others, it seemed to go on for eternity, the onslaught of negativity tearing at her sanity. But amidst all the voices, she could hear that one, that familiar, a young man she knew too well:
“Wake up.”
Suddenly, she felt piercing stabs at her back, in a spot still tender, still aching from a healing wound—and instantly, she would know that the shadows were seeking an opening they’d sensed, at some point, was there, a way in, a way to take beyond all doubt what lie within her core. However, that way was gone now—sealed away hours prior, before their departure. It was, perhaps, the one brief spark of relief amidst all the discord. One that was, of course, too brief.
Back in reality, she was immediately dropped down from the sky, just away from the face, her body hanging like a marionette on briar-covered wires, hovering at least two stories away from the ground. The laughter was more crazed than it ever had been, shaking the air, messing with their natural hearts, and causing tremors in the ground beneath them. With a grand sweep of her pen-holding hand, her sketchbook opened up to a page she’d become well acquainted with in the past few hours.
“At last, the world shall be undone!” they shouted, the mouth moving now with the words, the face and expressions too real not to be alive. A massive, ominous circle of indigo runes and glyphs appeared in front of Kyla as she was forced to call out her spell, shadows coursing through her veins and muscles. “We come!”
Left and right, they started getting pulled into the darkness below.
Laughter.
Each and everyone one of them, conscious, agonized, without power of their own, were pulled back through the abyss to drop back down—not long enough to hear anything, rushed straight into their gifts-turned-curses.
Sheer, manic laughter.
Each found the darkness coursing through them, pushing out a blast of power into the tree. With every one new spell, the tree blossomed further, growing, growing beyond belief, encapsulating them in a dome just underneath the dome of shadow, with the Face of Darkness still staring at them all.
Laughing with such release that the whole of creation could have been rent by the countless jeers.
As soon as they’d loosed their magic, they were dropped like flies to fall hard on the broken stone, helpless to watch. When the last dropped, Kyla was thrown down with them, the spell ripped from her control, and the darkness giddily inhaled power from them once again; it drew on their loathing, on their frustration, on their sorrow, on their forfeit, on their guilt—on everything conceivably ecstatic to its essence.
Shrieking mixed with cheering, pain with pleasure, a million million madmen and hysterical women laughing over their doomed bodies.
And then the darkness simply exhaled into the core circle, turning the entire tree as black pitch as its own form, allowing them to see the Face once again.
The voices were unbearable. Just being in this corrupted heart was torture. By purpose or blind hope otherwise, Louis’ act of absorbing the dark seed into the manifestation of his heart—which itself had been turned into a growing, consuming spell whose whole design was to break the ownership of one world and take the reigns of a nascent realm—the Earthling had made a simple seed… into a perfect gateway of raw evil.
The spell cascaded. Explosions surrounded them, magic shredding into their forms and hearts. They should have long been left unconscious or worse, but by the sheer nature of the darkness' grasp, they were held alive, held conscious, held prisoner to the powers of one-dimensional evil that wanted them to feel every second, every rip and stab and throb, all of them affecting not the skin and bone but the heart and mind...
They were caught in what could only be called oblivion. And then they were gone.
{ Phase One End }
[[ The two crazy-texts were "We Are" and "And now, these shining worlds we shall consume!" ]]
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 12:20 am
{ De } { Silence }
When next one stirred, there was no indication that time had passed—or, if it had, how much had done so. Even should they have opened their eyes, they would only see black. There was no here, no there, no detail of any sort. None of their friends (or other questionable allies) nearby; no sign of the abomination. In fact, the proof that their eyes were open at all was the sight of their own bodies. Beyond that? Just… emptiness.
Endless emptiness.
Wherever they were, there was no need to breathe. They were in one piece, no visible wounds, no caked blood or torn sleeves. Not that they could really bend to look down and tell. Or, better put, not that they wanted to do so. They were sapped of willpower, sapped of strength, sapped of… even thought. Their minds were as blank as the abyss around them. As it was, a weight seemed to hold down their hearts and minds, wanting as little activity as possible, wanting little more than to just… sleep.
And then, with a painful slam, they crashed down shoulders first into solid ground with enough force to knock the non-existent air out of their lungs.
They were suddenly wide awake, though they would be unable to remember any indication that they’d been falling. There had been no sensation of freefall or gravitational pull, no rush of air flying past. Emptiness, and then not.
As they regained their senses, they would notice that yes, they were alone. The ground they’d landed on could hardly be considered such; it was hard and smooth as polished stone, but as black as the rest of the world around them, a deep pitch that let no light escape. There was no path to walk, no hint of earth, just… solid black.
And then, as they stood, as they tried to truly orient themselves, they would realize it was not entirely solid.
Small hints of color began to appear in rising pools around them, but only deep blues and indigoes, dark hues in strange mists that seemed to surround them without end. And then… yellow. But a very particular yellow… familiar. And only ever in pairs, one each from the rising mists.
Living shadows they knew all too well.
Their powers were at their fingertips at a call—they could feel nothing preventing such, and though their summons would remain silent, perhaps slumbering, they could feel their presence—but the Heartless did not make hostile movements, did not lunge or seep into the ground to hide their presence. They seemed perfectly content to stare… and in the pits of their hearts, they would feel that one wrong move would trigger them. They could summon their weapons, and the flash of light would certainly startle the creatures, but even then they would not attack; somehow, they distinguished between a defensive instinct and a consciously hostile decision.
At the same moment, though, something directly in front of them flickered—not blue, or indigo, or yellow, but white, a pure, radiant white. First nothing more than a glimmering speck, it grew, quickly spreading into a large rectangle of light—a doorway. The Heartless seemed to scatter from its light, as if frightened, their eyes dancing from the visitor to the doorway. The path was clear, and if they began to move toward it without hostility, the Heartless would not strike.
And yet, the fallen ones would not have instantly jumped for the seeming escape. Their chests… ached. The muscles of their heart seemed to constrict, tightening with tension, not in fear but in indecision. Because within their cores, they could feel not one, but two drives.
The first, the one that washed upon them before the light appeared, was to simply… stay. Wisps of shadow licked at their legs even now, and the Heartless were beyond number, beyond comprehension, stretching into the unknowable horizon. But still, part of them felt it best to just remain in this darkness, remain rooted in a place where there was only emptiness as far as the eye could see. Maybe it was better to struggle against this alone. Here, perhaps they would be alone, maybe even forever—or until they were inevitably overcome.
The second, of course, was an ache for that light. An ache to run forward, to get out, to be free of the senseless struggle that threatened to engulf them. The light offered them a second chance, and their hearts yearned for it, wanting to feel warm, to feel embraced by hope that they hadn't failed, that they could still win. There was nothing here for them but darkness and pain. They needed to find their friends. They needed to be together. Light was unity, and it took no genius to see that the only unity here was unity in suffering.
Yet, that insidious yearning to stay struggled equally. Maybe… maybe this was it? An endless, pointless fight...
But the others might be through the door. They weren't here. They had to be... were those... voices?
Merlin? Aslan?
Something seemed to tickle the smallest, deepest fiber of their heart.
“Wake up.”
It was time to choose.
[[ IMPORTANT NOTE:Earthlings only! Only Earthlings experience this. Canons are out of the picture until otherwise mentioned.
And yes, each of you are alone, individual, isolated, etc. ]]
{Bobbi, Demyx,Zell,Red XIII,Yuffie .:. Louis's Heart .:. Station of Awakening}
Bobbi wanted to cheer when the others unleashed their Limit Breaks--surely, surely nothing could withstand those attacks. Surely they had won--only to cry out in pain as the burning, seething rain pelted the battlefield. Nanaki roared in pain to echo her own, and shoved her to the ground as he tried to shield her from the storm. When the blood storm passed, Nanaki stood stock-still to let Bobbi brace against him as she struggled to her feet. Every limb trembled with exhaustion, her chest heaved with each labored breath, and with an effort of concentration she summoned Taulmaril to hand. She stared around that the battlefield, the shattered ruins of Louis's Station of Awakening, her friends laying unconscious, and finally the dark monstrosity. Her vision blurred as she started to cry in pain both physical and emotional. Her free hand trembled, and she felt Nanaki's muscles tense under it.
Demyx found himself shouting, willing the attacks the others sent to finally end this fight. But as he stared up at the dark monstrosity and its blood fell like rain, he now cried out in agony as the caustic substance burned his eyes and seared his flesh. He tried to scrub it from his eyes, but to no avail, and all he could do was listen, listen to that horrific voice, listen to the others crying out in agony, and know that there was nothing he could do about it.
Was that supposed to hurt, too? He understood the physical pain, but why was there an ache on the inside as well? Why did it hurt to know these people were in pain, and why did it sting that he couldn't do anything? It didn't make sense. He was a Nobody; he didn't have a heart to feel with. But something was tearing him apart from within, and if it wasn't emotions, feelings, then what was it? And why did it hurt so much?
He continued to scrub at his flesh as his vision finally cleared, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the seething darkness surrounding them. When his mouth opened against his will and the black mist poured forth, he clapped his hands over his mouth immediately afterwards.
Zell stumbled mid-punch as the clones were destroyed, and he looked up as so many of the others unleashed their most powerful attacks on the darkness above them. For a far too brief moment, he could see the helix of memories, and for a second he let himself hope. But then the darkness blocked even that brief glimmer, and he cried out as the blood rain blinded and burned him. Like Demyx, he tried to scrub the blood from his eyes and flesh, to no avail. But soon his vision returned, and like the others, he was compelled to look, and to open his mouth. He had a guess as to what that black mist rising from him and the others was, and as much as he would ordinarily be fine with expelling whatever darkness was in him, he certainly didn't want that thing to have it!
Yuffie hadn't looked to see what her Limit Break had done. The clones were gone, Chaos was gone, and she saw others attack the darkness above them. She figured, logically, that they had won, and turned her attention to her friends. She aimed to make sure everyone was okay, but before she could even take a step, she was drenched in brackish blood like rain. Every drop burned like acid, and she cried out in pain as she curled in on herself.
"Ooooh, that is so rude!" she cried with a stomp of her foot. She clapped her hands over her mouth as a dark mist escaped it with her last word, and as her eyes followed the mist up to the dark monstrosity, she found she couldn't look away.
A low, continuous growl issued from Nanaki as he surveyed the damage to both landscape and team. Every hair on his body stood on end, he could feel Bobbi's exhaustion and heartache through the hand she had against his shoulder. They could do nothing as the darkness completed its dome around them. And as his mouth opened against his will, he could hear Bobbi's faint choking as the same thing happened to her and the dark mist rose from them to the darkness. He couldn't imagine how much pain her slashed throat was in as it worked against her will. He glanced at her to make sure she was doing as okay as possible, just as her bow vanished. She stared at her empty hand in shock, disbelief, and terror. But both of their gazes were forced back to the darkness, and it spoke.
“So fall the final shards!” “Ill fates, false hopes, ne’ermore shall light grant strength.” “Yet still you struggle?” “Your ends are written.”
Nanaki leaned into Bobbi's hip as she stumbled. All of his senses were being jumbled, sent topsy-turvy by whatever foul magic this creature was made of, but he could feel the archer faltering and lent what strength he could to keep her on her feet. He thought she whimpered, but it was hard to hear anything over the voices of the darkness.
This is a dream, this is a nightmare, it isn't real, I need to wake up, oh please no no no no no, ran Bobbi's frantic thoughts. But her instincts told her that no, this was real, nothing was ever more real than this nightmare. One shaking hand, the hand not buried in Nanaki's hot fur, came up to clasp the necklace she wore. She ran the tiny, heart-shaped, diamond-studded charm through her fingers to take what comfort she could, and they caught on the æthicite charm. Then she saw Kyla appear in the sky before them, and the archer found herself praying for perhaps the third time in her life as the Pictomancer was forced to cast her spell.
Once again she was pulled into shadows, Nanaki beside her, and once again her magic was ripped from her without her consent, to fuel a spell warped and twisted by the darkness. When she was released, Bobbi collapsed to lie flat on her back, still staring at the darkness, still with silent tears pouring down her face. When the spell completed and began to tear into them, she was in so much agony she couldn't tell if the screams she was hearing were her own or from others. All she knew was that her very being was in torment, and nothing she could do was stopping it. She longed for it to end, to pass out, to die so the pain would stop, but she wasn't given that luxury.
Demyx stumbled as his senses were scrambled like an egg in a blender. He tried to summon Arpeggio again, but before he could even register that he couldn't, he was pulled under himself. Again he sank into that manic darkness, but this time he passed through faster, or so it seemed, and he released his magic into Kyla's darkly twisted spell before dropping to the shattered cement below. He didn't even have time to get to his feet before the agony of the spell ripped through him. He screamed, and he tried to curl up on himself to protect his vital points from the magic even though he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that despite the pain, it wasn't entirely physical. And he couldn't understand how something he didn't even have could hurt so much.
More than anything Zell wanted to find someone or something to launch him at this mass of evil and punch it directly in its ugly, newly-manifest, enormous face. Before he could even act on this desire, though--thanks to the sensory mix-ups, he couldn't even tell what color up was, never mind which direction--he found himself ripped into the churning shadows beneath his feet. As hard as he fought against the darkness controlling him, he was nevertheless forced to provide his own energy to the dark and twisted spell Kyla had been forced to cast. Somehow he landed on his feet, and rolled to absorb the impact, but before he could do anything else, the spell completed. He'd been through more than his fair share of pain in his life, but none of it could possibly compare to the agony he felt from this spell.
Yuffie found herself very glad that she had her hands clapped over her mouth when all of a sudden she was hearing color and tasting sound and seeing smells. She wanted to hurl; this was worse than any sea or air sickness she'd ever had. At least then her senses made, well, sense! But when she was torn back into the darkness at her feet, it wasn't a relief. She was dropped from confusion and disorientation and pain into different confusion, disorientation, and pain. The only difference was that this time it was riddle with that maddening laughter, and when she came out the other side, she wasn't in control anymore. She felt her magical energies ripped out of her to feed the unholy spell, only to find herself being hurled towards the decimated Station below. Like Zell she landed on her feet and rolled, only to be hit hard by the spell as it tore through the entire group. She screamed, she knew she screamed, because she'd never felt pain like this before. The ninja collapsed to her knees, huddling in on herself in a vain effort to minimize the damage from the spell, and she sobbed.
Nanaki was dragged down into the darkness with Bobbi--he heard her gasp a split second before all he could hear was that infernal laughter. When he was made to lend his power to Kyla's spell, he tried to stop himself but was powerless to do so. He landed badly after being released, as his shoulder impacted the station first. He had barely gotten turned upright and started to get to his feet when the spell hit. He roared in agony and collapsed again, even though the spell wasn't affecting his flesh. The pain he felt in his mind and heart was unbearable, and he couldn't think or act through it.
The next thing she knew, Bobbi found herself surrounded by blackness. Not necessarily darkness, this was an empty blackness. It was... weird. Maybe it wasn't even that empty blackness. Maybe her eyes were still closed. Maybe she should just go back to sleep.
When her shoulders impacted whatever she had hit, her breath was driven from her lungs. Or it would have been if she'd needed to breathe in the first place. She got slowly to her feet, not entirely sure how she could even figure out how to do so in this empty, featureless blackness. She looked around as best she could, and she thought she saw spots and swirls of faint colors here and there. She couldn't be sure; she was well acquainted with the false-light phenomena that happened in truest darkness. She'd used to cover herself in as many thick blankets as she could to block out all light just to experience it a time or two. It tended to help with migraines to be enveloped in absolute darkness, and the dancing, phantasmal colors were part and parcel of that.
But too soon she saw the pairs of yellow lights, always in pairs, always yellow, and she took a step back away from the Heartless. She looked around for an escape, only to see them surrounding her on all sides, and instantly Taulmaril was in her hands. She tried to call to Shiva, as her only apparent ally in this new blackness, but there was no response. She got the sense that her esper was deeply asleep.
Ooooh, no no no, not now, Shiva, I need you, Bobbi thought frantically as she set one of her enchanted arrows to the bowstring. But the Heartless did nothing, simply staring, and that unnerved Bobbi more than anything else she had been through so far on this crazy adventure. Not even the feeling--for that's what it was, something deep within her heart speaking to her--that only an openly aggressive move would turn them on her made Bobbi feel any better. But she didn't have any time to dwell on it.
Before her, a spark of white appeared and grew, forming a bright, incandescent doorway. Bobbi winced against the light, her eyes watering, but she didn't look away. Inside her a war was being fought, and she let Taulmaril and her arrow dissipate back into the magics that gave them birth. She stared at the doorway, trembling, longing to go through, but afraid to. She could stay. Part of her wanted to stay. A memory echoed in her head, words said in a beloved game from a lifetime that felt so, so long ago.
"This world is perfect for me. If this is what the world really is, just this, then maybe I should fade back into darkness."
Oh, and she could, most definitely. She wasn't afraid of the darkness. She never had been, not really. Not this darkness, the darkness that was a cloak, a shield, that held nothing that would harm her if she didn't harm it. The only darkness she had ever feared was the darkness she had known ever since coming to this world. That monstrosity they had fought twice now... or was it thrice? That was the only darkness Bobbi had ever feared. Back home, she'd loved the night. The sleepy darkness that came after the sun went down, when the world was at rest and at peace.
But she'd loved the daytime, too. She'd loved basking in the light of the sun, talking and teasing and joking and playing with her friends by the light of day. She missed the laughter, the joy, and the unity she felt with the people dearest to her. And this light before her promised that again. Her friends were on the other side of that door, they had to be. And as she thought that, she thought she heard voices, and she knew they were coming from the door. She took a step forward, hesitated, then ran forward. Her decision was made.
She would wake up. She had a war to fight. She had loved ones to protect.
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:57 pm
{James ; Auron ; Leon : Louis’ Heart : Station of Awakening}
Auron had remained prepared after unleashing his Tornado across the field watched as the Walker of the Wheel finally fell. However, he could tell their battle was not yet over. As their final Limit Breaks hit the amalgamation of darkness itself he could tell by the horrifying screech that echoed through the battlefield that they had finally done some damage to it and then came the rain. A torrent of searing acidic blood fell upon the Unsent Samurai, drenching him to his very core in agony. The flame wall had gone out, extinguishing the remaining light on the platform itself, though there was light up above that allowed him to see clearly what the battle had done to what was once a stained glass mural that had been their field of battle. Nothing remained but lifeless, broken, grey stone.
Light from the memories revealed that what had once been nothing but a black void around them had taken on a new form. The blackness that surrounded them now pulsed and thrived, alive as countless eyes stared down at them The darkness had grown and risen above them, creating a dome that that blocked out their light aside from the light of the eerie eyes staring a them. With the sealing of the dome of the dome the large eyes opened once again. A sudden force of air and a strange sudden grip on the Unsent Samurai’s heart. Beyond his control his mouth opened and a dark mist escaped his mouth and into the air, pulled upwards like the air itself. His head and eyes followed, focused, intent.
Leon had fallen to one knee, his gunblade dug into the stone ground as the blood rain soaked and seared his very being in scalding agony. When the rain had finally stopped he slowly managed to push himself back up to his feet again and be able to properly see the horror that awaited. He watched, unsure what to do as the writhing darkness closed in around them, creating a dome that blocked all light from above. The eerie dim glow of the countless eyes on the wall and the large primary eyes, acting as the only light. Leon could do nothing as he felt the strange shift in the air and the uncontrollable force that caused his mouth to open. He watched wary as the black mist that had risen from his own throat floated among the mist from the others. Unsure what it meant, but dreading it all the same. As he stood, silenced, staring transfixed into the abyss above.
A rough breath of life that could have come from a corpse brought the corsair back into consciousness. His body still bloody, battered, and weak. He didn’t want to move, wasn’t even sure if he was able to as his mouth fell agape as he gazed up at the horror above, at a loss for words. Not even groans of pain could escape his mouth as he tried to will his body to move once again.
”So fall the final shards!” “Ill fates, false hopes, ne’ermore shall light grant strength,” “Yet still you struggle?” “Your ends are written.”
The dark collective whispered as the laughter returned and then everything went haywire. All his senses, magnified to dizzying and nauseating extremes by his enhanced senses as nothing made sense as voices continued to assault the corsair’s mind and sight as he could see the words swirl and twist all around him. James just wanted it all to end. Things made even less sense as the darkness above took on the visage of a face emerging through the darkness with a malevolent smile on it’s face, most likely enjoying their agony.
Things only got worse as Kyla was taken as everyone else had been and the laughter only got so much worse as she prepared her spell. The spell that had been used multiple times to spectacular effect, was now being turned on them. The corsair was unable to struggle or prevent it as he was once again drawn into the darkness. Sheer, manic laughter greeted him as darkness once more coursed through his veins stealing his power and adding it to the corrupted tree. His power taken the Lunar Gunner was dropped mercilessly on the stone floor along with all the others. Negativity flowed through his mind, despair, frustration, pain, and even a slight hint of hopelessness as he stared at the Tree of Unity, defiled into a Tree of Devastation. All the corsair could do was try to stay hopeful and tune out the insanity that surrounded him. He closed his eyes as the spell was unleashed.
Auron could do nothing, none of them could as the darkness took Kyla and then took their power to fuel her spell. Even the warrior monk crashed to his back as he was released and was unable to rise as the spell finished and unleashed. The explosions of magic surrounded the Unsent Samurai striking, rending his very soul in sheer agony as he yelled. He felt as if his physical form was about to torn asunder and it took all that he had to maintain a physical form. His body and soul long past it’s limits though not allowed to break down or collapse.
Leon remained silent as the darkness took on it’s form and drew them all down into the darkness to feed on their power to fuel Kyla’s spell. When he crashed and the spell unleashed he writhed and shouted in agony, his voice surely joining and lost amongst all of the others as he wanted nothing more than for it to end. To lose consciousness, perhaps even to die, anything at that point to end the pain his very heart and soul endured.
James' shouts and cries of pain melded with all of the others that rang out across the field as the spell hit, tearing at his very heart and soul. He writhed and tossed as his consciousness was held preventing the sweet relief that passing out once again would bring. He kept his eyes shut through all the agony and waited for it to end as he too was lost in the oblivion…
—————
When James’ eyes next opened he wasn’t sure if they had opened at all. Surrounding him was only blackness and a deep, deep, silence the likes of which the corsair had never experienced before. He was alone, floating? Lying down? He honestly couldn’t tell and didn’t even care. He wanted nothing more than to sleep and thus he let his eyes close, welcoming the silence and pitch black that was normally so hard to obtain when he normally slept.
A powerful slam on his back brought James’ eyes open in an instant and he had expected the breath to be forced out of his lungs from the impact, but there was no burst of air… No need to breathe, not even lingering pain aside from the initial impact. He was wide awake then and looked around at his new surroundings, what little there was to see. Blackness, nothing else aside from the smooth, sleek surface on which he stood. As he looked at the floor he noted small swirls of color, all deep blues and indigo. The dark hues seemed to move and surround him and then yellow orbs… pairs of them. The glowing orbs rose out of the ground and took on the all too familiar height and stance of Shadow Heartless that surrounded the corsair.
In a flash of light that was almost blinding to the corsair his hexagun was in his right hand and his left hand was was brought up, fingers curled like claws as he prepared to strike.
’Fen, I’m going to need your help here…. Fenrir?’ He called out to no response from the Lunar Wolf, a bit of mental feeling revealed the Lunar Wolf to be sleeping deeply, unable to be stirred.
With a sigh of desperation he turned his focus back to the Heartless that surrounded him. It was strange, they weren’t lunging at him. They just stood there, gazing at him, not even poised to strike, but definitely ready to. He could tell that any act of aggression would spell the end of him.
Suddenly there was a flicker of light, pure, brilliant, radiant, blinding and warm that quickly spread into what could only be a doorway. A way out of the black void. The Heartless scattered, afraid of the light. Their heads twitchily looking from James to the door. The corsair relaxed his stance and released his hexagun, feeling assured the Heartless would not strike. as he stared, his eyes squinting to shield them partially from the blinding light. He felt the tug of his heart as it pulled him towards the door, but something stayed his feet from running straight into the door way. Was it lethargy? Apathy? That held him rooted to the spot as he stared at the apparent way out of the Void.
’Should I fall into the shadows?’ He asked, staring at the non-aggressive creatures that stared at him. There was something inviting about the prospect of his story ending, all of the pain being over at last. To go through the door meant a return to conflict, to the raging war. To the loss from conflict. For a brief moment he closed his eyes basking in the warmth as if it would be the last time he ever saw the light.
”Wake up.”
A voice? Voices? He could hear them calling. Calling through the door, calling him back. The loneliness he had been feeling since coming here ebbed away as he opened his eyes looking straight into the door, letting the light of the doorway touch him, touch his heart. He basked in it, soaked up the light letting it fill his heart. His left and right hands raised to the necklace that held his aethecite charm and his right thumb and index touched the titanium band on his left ring finger. His wedding ring. He couldn’t stay, he knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. He needed to return to his wife, his friends, his allies They needed him. He could not abandon them, he would not abandon them. Without another glance at the Heartless he smiled as he walked through the Light filled Doorway. His battle was not over, his story would go on.
Kyla’s last hope fell into oblivion, a wish worse then left ignored but twisted into a direful reconstruction of her will. When the beast shrieked in pain, she still couldn’t look at it, it perfectly, she expected a back lash and shielded her eyes- but what followed was nothing she was prepared for.
The burning blood was so much she was completely submerged for a time since she was pinned to the plat forms surface. She was drenched in water that would offer no relief from the fever already in her body, but add to the spasms of heated agony that would bloom in her skin from the consuming contact with the substance. She was left wheezing as the glass beneath her body broke and fell away from the mosaic stone- the acidic effects burned into the hole left behind by the sword which had pinned her to the ground. Leaving her rolling to one side to try and instinctively pull her leg towards herself… Pain. Everything hurt. It burst inside her and on her and it bubbled up through her throat, like Ariel’s voice being stolen by the witch a particularly dark puff of her anguish escaped through her lips to be consumed by the horrifying manifestation that surrounded them. One of many wisps of whatever negative fumes it could pull from the rest of the party. She turned to use her book but felt something inside give way! Her magical connection to her weapon died like a string was cut. So too did the voice of her summon fall silent. It was then that Axel suddenly snapped back to life, his body heavying upwards off the ground like someone just pushed breath back into his lungs and all he could do was yell out silently as his senses were assaulted in their clarity. His green eyes darted around to take in the horror- just when he figured he should be waking maybe to some RnR, or some recovery at the hands of a mage, he’d instead woken to a sanity stripping continuation of his last sight before everything went black! Man was he hurting! Something about this just wasn’t right- his face seemed compelled to turn upwards to observe the monstrosity above. His lips formed something along the lines of ‘- holy sh**!’
The whispers, it was the whispers that made something so foreign linger in the pit of his stomach. Something he knew shouldn’t be there- it was foreign, it was alien, it didn’t work. But perhaps it was this place, this saturation of darkness, malevolence… of evil. It was just like that other time when they faced off against that other being, that giant face- great… it was back?? And now it had friends? He trembled. And it was so, so strange that he did. His gaze was transfixed on the writhing, breathing, laughing darkness that took shape, pressing forward to “look” at them with a face of its own. Axel could tell who was closest to him, he struggled to sit upright, his hand reaching for a chakram that was no longer there- it wouldn’t come to him! ‘ -what the f-??’ he mouthed wordlessly. He grimaced, scowling back at the ‘Darkness’ – the thing- the being- the many many voices of it’s being with a nasty mug to boot- cause he felt like it. Whatever, who cared how that was possible but he just did. He scowled unappreciative at it, and while it wasn’t much- it was a milestone for him.
Kyla meanwhile couldn’t have been more terrified.
Once again her worst nightmare, the Darkness, a true entity given realization and shape and form was here- looming over her with a face that rivaled it’s predecessor in haunting resonance. She shook so violently, curling on her eyes, eyes fixed on the creature, as if for once looking away would be too dangerous.
As she struggled to move away from it, which honestly- there Was no direction to shift that made her more or less near it, but her fright provoking the heavily injured mage to just try and do something.
Darkness came from beneath, tendrils lashing her arms, and whilst she began to scream in panic and protest she was sucked under into the murk. It seemed to go on endlessly, the pitch of pain and inked anguish slashing like a real knife against the internal contents of her mind. It ravaged her. Voices, voices, and another. Wake up- they said.
‘ah….I know you..’
It searched for her weakness her entry point, the one she had mercifully closed in time. He senses the dent in her armor and dove for it- only to find a patch capping it closed. Relief was brief, for in the end- perhaps it didn’t matter. She was a puppet by force or choice. As her body was dangle din the air, barbed string cutting into her flesh- It used her as she always feared it would, it could. Her attempt either way was pointless.
If Elsa could see her now. What would she have to say after everything they talked about?
She stared wide eyed and horrifying at the face- she knew, as it laughed at her she knew what it wanted to do. What it would do with her, what it would use. Again as she struggled pathetically, skin tearing and dripping it pulled her hands across her own page, and summoned her masterpiece turned horrible mistake.
The tree consumed all and every pounce of power everyone else had left to give it. She watched as her worst dreams played themselves out. She came a tool of the most terrible kind, an engine of destruction that no resistance to begin with. Her protections were all delusions. She was forced to call what was left of her strength, and it obeyed this Darkness, it sprouted the tree of glyphs and magic, sucking up every sacrificed offering from its victims, and then she was tossed down to join them in their agony. Kyla fell like a drag doll, her thresholds long since crossed- turning up to meet the face as her magic was corrupted and in a last sentiment- “ And now, these shining worlds we shall consume.”- was unleashed upon them at last. Like meeting a firing squad, all she could do was shut her eyes.
Axel knew there was nowhere to run. He was drawn under and the last of her power syphoned to feed the artists creation turned savage against them. Looking up at her, covered in her own blood, holes and burns, eyes hollow and afraid, shredded scars and bruises- she looked like her replica. If she had the bandages on her it would be perfect. They could have switched places and no one would be the wiser. It was only when she was tossed at them, after the Darkness had finishing having its way with her magic- did her expression look like Kai’s as well. Had she cracked? This was her fear, last time he noticed. Some of these earthlings hated spiders; this kid was not a fan of the dark in general. It spoke to them one last time and he knew it was over. Oh well. He gave it a good try. Maybe if he was destroyed again this time he’d come back whole? No way to know. He could see Leon across from him just accepting his fate- yah…
Seemed right- He forced himself to his feet. He’d go out on them if he could. The tree burst into activation and unleashed it’s fury on them.
Kyla felt guilt in the small shred of comfort she had- or vague semblance of it…that she’d not die alone. But it was not fair... they shouldn't. Not like this, not from her own spell. Not this one... She was held in place- unconsciousness should not come. She’d feel her body feel like it was being burned away, torn and shredded to pieces. A death so painful… she’d actually not wish this on her worst enemy. The impact would split a soul in twain, a shattered remnant of itself.
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:29 pm
{????: Silence}
Was she falling?
Her body was unmarred, floating, in an endless abyss that she was too far in her sleepy stupor to fear. Was she dead? Her body was visible to some degree- the tattered pieces of her clothing were gone, no longer drifting by the edges of her vision like they had before. For the most part- that she knew, she was whole. Her body was in one piece… There was no sound. Not even her breathing could punctuate it. The low rumble that exists inside the human form was missing. She drifted for who knew how long till she came to a crashing impact on a surface of pitch void like everything else.
The artist pulled herself onto her knees, looking around at nothing as her sanity compiled itself again into cognisant thought. Around the same time she realized anything, the sensation of power had returned. She stood, and looked at the rippling colors in the darkness as they took more visible saturation, the eyes- the many yellow eyes followed and for once, she was scared to see them.
So scared, that she summoned her book- but.. she did nothing beyond that. . Like a person who lifts a fist slightly but leaves it half way in the air... she didn’t draw that fist back before her book was lowered and clutched to her chest. Somewhere inside Kyla felt Carbuncle was there, sleeping. The artist wondered if she was dreaming like that. What did their summons do in that state?
This feeling. Stay? Stay here?
…if Kyla remained here- would Carbuncle be spared knowing? The eyes loomed just below, tendrils around her feet collected.
No.
She didn’t want this… she didn’t but- but..
Even though it wasn’t lonely, it was scary. The darkness all around, those staring eyes… She thought when she’d die she’d go to heaven. She did her best didn’t she? Was she this bad? Was this her hell?
The artist didn’t profess to be perfect, but where was the rest? Was this what she deserved for being the final instrument of her comrades demise? Was she to join the throngs of the anguished eyes below her feet in the shadows, forever lost to the tides of shadows. Just thinking about that made her blood go cold.
The sadness nipped at her no longer then a few seconds when a glimmer of light appeared before her. Pure white, an edge that grew and formed that iconic door to light! It drove the hordes of eyes away, and the pictomancer could feel inside her soul the struggle- that polarized sensation of wanting to stay or go.
Here. She’d be like them, lost amoungst the shadowy tides and yellow eyes. Carbuncle wouldn’t be the wiser; she’d join her partner in a slumber that would never end. A restless dream. This pain was familiar. For once she’d not be alone in it.
It was a pain she could handle, one she was used to, one she could “exist” with because in the face of all that came before... The shards of memories from moments ago or ages ago- the pain. The relentless torment. Was she really such a glutton for more?
But here is scary! Screamed a smaller, younger voice. That reaction made her body shake even as she knelt there with her book pressed tightly against herself. And so the girl continued to war inside herself.
What was beyond this door? Was it really warmth?
Her heart felt like it was. This ache so keenly felt it forced anguished tears out of her eyes and in the dark she wasn’t ashamed to let them fall. She wanted to go there- beyond the barrier where everyone surely was. But surely she didn’t deserve that did she? She who failed. She couldn’t save or protect anyone. This place was somewhere beings like her belonged right? What right did she have to go back-
…not if she wasn’t wanted.
But She wanted, to be wanted.
The artist rocked there on her knees, and continued to debate. Fear of the dark making her a restless mess. She inched closer to the outskirts of the lights reach. It felt warm. Was this really for her? Did this door come for her? She felt so so tired… she had enough! No more fighting, just let her sleep won’t you?
But here you’d never sleep.
You who are Called by Name Carbuncle could sleep, but not her- she’d continue to writhe in this duality of extreme emotions over-shadowed by her fear of the dark. And pity. Yes. Pity. Pity for the eyes, all the other countless ones here lost- and in their unity alone.
She felt sorry for them. But her presence wouldn’t give them comfort. She’d only become one of them and continue to languish away from the light.
Just before she could ask if the Light was waiting for her- she heard it. A voice, voices…
She knew those voices. Was someone- could it be-?! Someone was calling her?!
Her?
Her name?
They wanted her to wake up.
Are you sure it’s me? You’re calling me?
Surely you want someone better?
No.
It’s you.
It’s her.
Wake up.
That’s it isn’t it? What you really want. To be called on by name?
And even if you felt like you didn’t deserve it, you were called all the same. The door is open. And in that thought, she realized something else. ‘He’ wasn’t here. She wouldn’t find him in the many eyes, she couldn’t embrace him with her arms let him know everything was alright.
‘Big sister was there’, no- he’d never understand or feel that. He’d never call her by name again if she stayed here.
The door is open!
Your name is being called.
Just once more.
Just once more.
One more time.
Say my name-
She was standing before she realized she was. Still crying, the ache in one of the paralleled sides growing. Coming closer. Would she answer? That was the choice. Stay here and languish in the punishment you felt you deserve, or take the grace offered to you.
You who are beckoned to wake up.
Apologise could come later, forgiveness could come later. Another chance was given and she could take it.
Just one more time.
Call me.
Her hand was outstretched and the light burst upon her tough, like waves of water breaking against the shore- she feels it tingle into her skin and then some. The Light was warmth, love, laughter, and welcome all manifest. It was indeed here for her, giving her the choice.
And Kyla-
Kai wanted to answer.
‘…I hear you.’
She stepped closer- wishing she could have taken the other with her, share this feeling as the battle inside her was decided. She had friends to see, family to save, a world to restore and Kyla was the one the Light was calling for. This wasn’t a mistake. This wasn’t chance. It needed her, something inside her- something only this Light could see, and knew amongst the many countless, it needed precisely her.
Oh yes. It was ok, it was ok to feel welcome. It’s ok to feel needed. Come closer it said with no words only feelings. You, yes you.
Didn’t you say you needed to find him? You said you'd protect this world with them didn't you? You who swore with no words you'd fight. You knew you'd give it everything and more, beyond! If this door is here, then there is STILL a chance, a fight to win. Come Closer! They're waiting for you! For you! Can't you hear it??? You promised that impossible promise you’d do this. If there is one thing you always wanted to be for him, was someone who always kept promises.
Dawn's eyes slowly opened her eyes to the darkness that surrounded her. Everything around her was as empty as she felt. After she hit the ground she gasped and rolled on her side. She closed her eyes and held her chest as she tried to get back the breathe she lost (though she didn't have it to begin with). With slow movements, Dawn stood with her arms around her chest. She stared blankly at her surroundings.It was darkness around her. Even the floor was darkness. It was almost solid darkness.
'So this is death? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Foolish of me to think I would ever reunite with my father like in some childish fairy tale.'
Even as the Heartless appeared around her, Dawn almost seemed to of given into the darkness. She was alone, she felt empty. Though she felt Garuda, the presence was not comforting as it was normally was.
The dancer closed her eyes against the light of the door as it opened before her. She opened her eyes again with tears in them as she stared into the light. She knew that door. She almost welcomed to see it, as it seemed to to her with that same promise. Yet somewhere inside her she seemed to ache. Dawn dare not approach what was on the other side.
She was scared to.
Dare she take the chance that was given to her, and fail again? Or should she stay, in the darkness, where she would finally put an end to her failures and let downs?
"Wake up!"
'Dad...?' she froze when she heard the call through the door. Was it him? Dawn felt her heart yearning more than before as she started to slowly approach the door. She was going to see him. Along with everyone else again...
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:19 am
[Joe : Louis' Heart : Station of Awakening ]
All things considered, Joe supposed it only made sense that he would end his life being yelled at by a pompous abomination.
The creature had gotten to Kyla this time, and the results were not pretty. He was helpless as he was dragged into the darkness, helpless as it drained what was left of his strength, and helpless as the explosion ripped right through him.
When he woke up, surrounded by nothing but darkness, that feeling of helplessness stuck to him. So he really was useless. Nothing he did had amounted to anything that entire fight.
'Goddammit' he thought. 'What the hell is the point anymore? I might as well just...'
His train of thought was interrupted as he slammed full-force into the ground.
'I don't know.' he realized'I don't know why I want to continue on.'
He didn't know whether he would earn the group's respect. He didn't know if he could become the great person he wanted to be. He didn't know if he could be of any use in this strange amalgam of a world. He certainly didn't know if he'd ever see any of his loved ones ever again. However, this didn't mean that these things couldn't happen.
That was what the light offered over the darkness: possibility. If he stayed in this black void, he would never rise above where he was now. If he pushed forward into the light, anything was open to him.
Joe took a deep breath and moved. He chose possibility and ran into the light.
[[ Mod Edited. Removed: "He could already see some of the others begin making their way to it..." (paragraph 9, lines 1-2).
Reason: Each of you are alone and isolated! ]]
Gentleman Knives
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LevDa
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 11:50 am
[Dani:~: Louis' Heart:~: Station of Awakening]
Dani breathed out a sigh as her limit was used and for a while was content watching the others along with her let out everything they had at the battlefield. There was, however, one problem that Dani had not realized until one of the swords pierced her arm. She let out a little bit of a yelp as another grazed her right leg. Now, instead of just water dripping from her hands, there was her blood hitting the floor. Dani tried to do her best to fend off the rest of the swords and watched as Kyla was taken over by the darkness. What it did to Kyla, at least to Dani, was worst then what she saw for the rest of the group.
Dani could do nothing at this point, she was spent and closed her eyes to hopefully join the rest of the group that was falling unconscious. Fate and the darkness however, would not give her that luxury. She felt every hit and did her best to not scream. Despite the pain, she was looking down at one of her- Ashley’s chakrams in her hands. The pain that Dani was currently experiencing, at least to her, was now on that same level. Finally, she was allowed to fall into darkness as the last explosion wiped her out.
‘This is it,’ Dani thought as she fell through the darkness. ‘This is how it ends for everyone. I couldn’t go back to my frien-‘. Her thought was cut off as she was slammed into something hard on the back. ‘This is weird,’ Dani groaned mentally as she stood up on the hard surface that she had just impacted on. It was then that her vision focused in on the familiar yellow lights and shapes that were somewhat near her. ‘LEVIATHAN!!!’ Dani called through her mind as she looked around for any sort of ally. ‘Please… wake up’ Dani felt a tear fall from her face when she embraced the feeling that for now, she was alone.
Dani at this point resummoned her weapons, taking note that Ashley’s chakram was still in her right hand. The other chakram however, was starting to look a little bit different to her. ‘It doesn’t matter’ Dani thought before looking down at her sleeves. Ever since this battle had begun, Dani knew about her mana leaking from her sleeves. She had figured out that the darkness used the mana leaking for her as well to do some of her moves against the party as well. She even remembered her leaking mana as she used a giant tendril to say “screw you” to the darkness that she had been fighting against. For now though, in the darkness, it had stopped.
She then noticed the bright light coming from a doorway not that far away from her. She noted that although that light tugged towards her, part of her just wanted to stay here. ‘Why should I go back?’ Dani thought, her feet seemly anchored to this part of the platform. ‘I screwed up everything, I almost killed everyone. Once they figure out it was me I-‘. Another part of her though, caused her legs to start moving towards the door before stopping right in front of it. She could hear the voices, calling out to her.
‘I guess they do not want me to drown down here’ Dani smiled and wiped away some stray tears from her face. ‘I- we can fix this. I know it’ Dani finally weighed her options. The darkness provided her with a way to drown. The light, her friends in this new world, wanted her to swim to the surface.
Dani eventually tightened her grip on her chakrams and walked through the light, ready to come back to the surface.
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2016 10:58 pm
{ Sta } { Silence }
So they stepped into blinding light, their senses trying to acclimate... only to shift in consciousness, as if from one state of dreaming to another state of waking.
The first sensation they would feel was something hard against their back, solid as stone, cold as ice, and unsteady as the sea. And as they would realize that the ground they were waking on was trembling with growing ferocity, the rest of their senses would likely spike into awareness, driven by survival instincts and adrenaline.
Eyes open, they would find themselves in the ruins of the castle's great hall, where they had spent hours in an illusory ball, where they had clashed with Liar's puppets, where they had purified his shard of taint. Something crashed behind them—a massive pillar of stone collapsing from the tremors that seemed to shake from the very foundations of the island castle. It had missed them by mere feet—and the debris by mere inches. Even as they stood, more of the hall fell around them—window glass, ceiling tiles, wrought iron chandeliers.
They knew by gut before by conclusion: Jadis' massive castle and the island itself was coming undone, and if they were not quick, the ancient witch's home would soon be their body's tomb. Worse, the battle had left them drained; they could hardly hold their weapons by adrenaline alone, and magic was out of the question. Their summons were still... slumbering? Unanswering? They were present, but unresponsive. Now, with the world crashing down around them, there was no time for recuperation.
Voices shouted from their left, and glancing in that direction, they would find the stairs leading up and out beyond the massive great doors, toward the bridge and exit—toward their train, toward their only hope of going home. Moonbeams and starlight pierced the veil of night, but not the rubble's dust, as it shone through the doors. The voices were now certainly Merlin and Aslan, searching, scouring the chaos for any sign of them—and not the group, but them. The two mentors were specifically calling their name, desperation clear in their voices as the tremors grew more violent.
And yet, something whispered into their chest, pulling their gaze to the right. Where once had been the throne was now a gaping hole in the ground, a set of stairs leading deep into the underground levels of the castle. All was dark down this path, except perhaps for a single torchlight in the distance, flickering in the discord but burning all the same, far and away. The shadows seemed to curl along the entryway, as if peeling away the dust to clear a path, while that speck of light in the depths promised... what?
The Wise Ones were calling for them, specifically—not the group. Had they gotten out already? They must have been separated in the chaos of that disaster.
But what if they hadn't? They'd be deeper down, then, down where the darkness—the Darkness!—was quickly burgeoning within the calamity.
Still, their minds were struggling to remember the battle. There was an explosion, laughter, they were together, but being thrown this way and that... Were they free, or trapped? If the others were trapped, why weren't they?
Were those shadows... beckoning them? But... the shouting from outside, with Merlin and Aslan... it sounded now like more than those two, as if there were a larger group looking for them...
But was it the whole group? Maybe they should run farther into those black depths...
Something twisted the heartstrings at their core, bringing an ache in the midst of an already stressful decision as the seconds ticked by, and their exhausted body struggled without magic.
“Wake up.”
It was time to choose.
[[ IMPORTANT NOTE:Earthlings only! Only Earthlings experience this. Canons are out of the picture until otherwise mentioned.
And yes, each of you are alone, individual, isolated, etc. Also, no items! ]]
She came to—again?—on something hard, and cold, and quaking. The tremors of whatever it is she was lying on grew worse, and Bobbi's eyes snapped open as her heart began racing. As quickly as she could, despite her weariness, Bobbi got to her feet, and stared around at these new surroundings. Only they weren't new at all. This was the great hall of Jadis's castle, she knew without a doubt. There, the throne, and there, the door leading to the chapel where—she refused to think about it. It was just an illusion anyway, it didn't really happen.
Something crashed down behind her and Bobbi yelped in surprise. She whirled to face it, only to see one of the massive columns in shattered ruins, the debris from the stone mere inches from her feet. One hand pressed over her heart in an automatic, but futile, attempt to slow it. She heard more crashes around her, and the sounds of glass shattering, of metal impacting stone, and knew that the entire structure was coming down.
I have to get out of here, was her immediate thought, and at the same time, she heard voices calling her. Her, specifically, the syllables of her name rising above the crashing destruction around her.
"Merlin?" she called on instinct, recognizing the voices. "Aslan?" She paused, then, one hand feeling her throat where Anthony had slashed it. It was whole, and she wondered when she'd been healed. She couldn't remember, but she wasn't about to question it. Besides, there to her left was an exit, where she could hear Merlin and Aslan calling her name.
But why only her? Was she the only one left? The others must have gotten out! Bobbi took a step towards their voices, only to hesitate. What if they hadn't? What if they were still trapped? Bobbi looked to her right, away from the promise of safety and haven, to the stairs leading down, down, into darkness. Not just any darkness, but the Darkness, and suddenly Bobbi was torn. Sure, she could go to safety, but she couldn't leave her friends to face that alone! Wasn't that why she'd stepped into the light in the first place? More than duty, more than responsibility, she didn't have a name for what she felt, but she could no more leave her friends to fend for themselves against that monstrosity than she could cut out her own heart. It went against everything she was, everything she fought for. She loved them, and she would fight for them as fiercely as she would fight for her family.
But at the same time, what if she was wrong? What if everyone had gotten out safely, and Merlin and Aslan were calling her specifically because she was the only one missing? But if that was the case, why were they the only ones calling her? Perhaps everyone else was still unconscious. She had no idea how long she'd been laying on the ice-cold stone. Everyone could be alright! Hesitantly, Bobbi stepped towards the darkness. She couldn't leave them to fight that alone if they were still there! But she stopped, and stared back towards the stairway upwards, towards the light. She couldn't face the Darkness alone. She wasn't strong enough, she knew that. She knew. But she'd be damned if she left even one of them down there to face it alone! She'd rather go down fighting than run to safety when there was anyone she could help. But...
But.
But.
"Wake up."
She had to make a decision. But she couldn't, not without knowing for sure. More of the castle crashed down around her, and Bobbi shielded her face from the flying debris, backing away from the darkness. She wanted more than anything to run to Aslan and Merlin, but, but...
Even if I go down there, she thought, and tears blurred her vision, I can't do anything for them. I need help. Merlin's a powerful magician, and Aslan is basically Jesus. If anyone can help me make sure everyone is alright, it's them. Besides, they're calling me, specifically. Why would they call just me if everyone else was in danger as well?
Of course, she had an answer for that, no matter how nonsensical it seemed. They probably had some way of knowing if she was safe. Magic, most likely. Which meant one of two things: either everyone was alright and they knew she was down here, or she was the only one they could find with that magic. If the second, that meant the others were still in danger, and the Darkness was hiding the others.
Bobbi took a step back again, away from the darkness, her heart tearing itself apart as she wept. But she backed away again, and again, and finally turned and fled, running towards the light, to Aslan and Merlin, her breath hitching in silent sobs.
I'm so sorry, everyone, she thought. Hang on just a little bit longer for me, okay? I'll come back to you, all of you! I swear it!
"I'll come back to you, I promise!"
"Merlin! Aslan! I'm down here!"
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:44 pm
{James : ???}
James’ eyes had apparently closed to acclimate to the light as he had walked through the door because when he next became aware it felt like he had been woken up abruptly. Groggily the corsair realized he was on his back on ice cold, hard stone. However, what was more concerning was the relentless shaking which immediately put the Lunar Gunner on edge and got him to his feet. As he quickly glanced around his surroundings he realized he was in Jadis’ Castle and with it the memories came fleeting back… The Illusory Ball that saw the loss of their family members to the darkness. The fight against Liar’s puppets and the shard’s eventual purification. Everything that had happened before it went to Hell in a Handbasket came rushing back. The vast majority the corsair would have liked nothing more than to be able to forget it.
However, there was no time to get lost in memory as was evidenced by the stone pillar that came down, missing him only a few feet. The tremors were worsening and it was clear that the whole castle was falling apart the foundations of not only the structure but the whole island apparently failing. Soon it would all collapse and if he couldn’t get out, his life would end with it. Exhaustion gripped at the corsair, making his thoughts feel lethargic and his movements even more so. However, this was clearly no chance to rest. His instincts were telling him one thing and one thing only!
Voices rang out from the left through the cacophony of crumbling and crashing stone around him. Merlin and Aslan were calling out into the castle. Calling out to him. Looking in that direction showed a staircase leading up to the main entrance and out to the bridge where the train was, their only way away from the collapsing castle. At first it felt like a no brainer as to which direction he needed to go. However…
Something pulled at his heart string for a brief moment and he followed it to look to the left. Where the throne had once been was now just a gaping hole. Stairs lead deep into the lower levels of the castle. There was nothing but darkness aside from a faint light at the very bottom. The shadows seemed to be beckoning him towards the stairwell down, but why? There was nothing for him there? Hadn’t he just left the darkness behind? Why would he go back?
Merlin and Aslan were calling him, and now that he listened carefully only him and none of the others. Did that mean the rest of them had already gotten out? Why had they left him behind then? Had they been that exhausted that they couldn’t help each other out? He had no way of knowing.
He also had no way of knowing if they had even gotten out. Once again his focus turned toward the dark stairwell. If they were trapped as well, it would be down there and his heart cried in agony as he tried to decide. His memory was hazy, he could barely remember anything about how they ended up in this situation at this point. That confusion made the decision all the more difficult as it seemed as if the shadows beckoned him towards them. He didn’t want to leave them.
”Wake up.”
It was crunch time. He couldn’t just stand there pondering the conundrum. He had no way of knowing. Even if he did go down and try and help anyone who might still be in the darkness, he was powerless right now. He had no time, no strength, and no mana to speak of. He turned his focus back towards the doorway out and he could hear other voices now calling him along with the Wise ones. It was them, it had to be. They were waiting for him. Michelle was waiting for him. He couldn’t risk it, he had to return to her. If for no other reason than that he had to get out.
’I’m sorry guys, I can’t leave her. She needs me,’ He thought as he turned his back away from the stairwell into the darkness and ran towards the doorway outside as the castle continued to collapse around him.
”Guys! I’m here! I’m coming!” He bellowed as he raced to the door.
Jeimuzu Kuro Crew
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Kaegoe
Hilarious Lunatic
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:22 pm
[Dawn : ???]
Dawn held her arms around herself and gasped as her back hit the ground. She shook against the cold as she slowly stood up. The castle seemed to be falling apart. The same one Liar had wrapped his illusion around them. It was breaking apart and she had to get out.
With a startled gasp she looked around as she heard people shouting for her.
'Merlin? Aslan?'
They were shouting for her? What was happened? What was going on? There was others with them. She just couldn't tell who.
She started to take a step towards the voices but the sound of distant whispers stopped her in her tracks. Dawn glanced over her shoulder into the hole in the castle floor. Something pulled her towards it. Like someone, or something was down there. If there was, they were in as much danger as she was.
What if her friends were down there? Even if they weren't, others were in danger of dying in the dark abyss. Dawn shivered at the thought of leaving anyone there. Even weak as she felt. She had to try. Even alone.
But what if everyone was waiting for her already and she was just imagining things? No... those whispers were real... And she couldn't leave them.
With her whole body trembling and her heart beating in her ears, she glanced in the direction of Merlin and Aslan, her friends, the door to safety. Then turned to the darkness and slowly walked in.
'Bobbi, I am sorry. I can't leave anyone behind...' she thought as she headed into the darkness.
[[ Mod Note: There are no cries or screams from the downward path. There is no sound from that path at all. ]]]
[[OoC: Edit complete. Sorry about the mix up.]]
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:38 pm
[ Joe : ??? ]
As he ran into the light, Joe blanked out yet again. When he woke up, the first thing he felt was the cold.
Opening his eyes, he saw that he was back in the grand Ballroom of Jadis' castle. He sighed deeply. Of course he'd be thrown back into the last place in the universe he'd ever want to be again. That was just how these things worked.
The sound of the collapsing pillar forced him out of his moodiness. The entire place was coming down around him and he needed to get out.
Desperately, he began to look for a way out. At one end of the room, he saw the stairs leading up and out to the train. He could here voices calling for him: Merlin, Aslan, maybe others as well. They sounded desperate to get him out.
And at the other end of the room he saw a set of stairs leading into the darkness, with maybe the slightest hint of light visible to him. Ordinarily in a situation like this, there would be no reason to go down there at all. Except '...where is everyone else?'
Did they make it out? He could barely remember anything beyond the explosion and most of them were in outright terrible shape. Should he go back...?
...No. He had to trust that those who could had found a way out. He had to make sure he was out of this building before it was too late. It might have been cold blooded and selfish, but what else could he do? The castle was literally coming down around him. If anyone was still stuck below, they were dead already.
He took a deep breath and ran towards the door, the decision weighing on him. 'You all had better have made it out already.'
Gentleman Knives
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LevDa
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:01 pm
[Dani :~: ??]
Dani felt the cold against her back as soon as she went through the light and shivered. It took her awhile before her eyes and her sense of self adjusted to what was going on around her. She, at first, had no idea what she was looking at. It took a while and then it clicked. She was back in Jadis’ castle. For some reason though, her mind seemed to block out this area due to how long it felt like she was on the dark station.
‘****’ Dani cursed as she watched, and felt the castle breaking around her. She wanted to jump around like normal, to dodge, but she felt like her energy was sapped from her still. There was not much that she could do alone and she was starting to accept this.
Before she could accept what she assumed was her fate though, was the voices that she heard. She felt like she had heard them before and in her honest opinion, she was not entirely sure why they were calling out to her specifically. Why are they looking for her? Where was everyone else? She however looked to the right, the darkness. She was still trying to remember the battle. Her mind felt like she had done something wrong but… she couldn’t place why at the moment.
In the end, she knew she did not have long. Going down meant death and if she knew anything from the day or so she has spent with the party, never go down into places by yourself. ‘Just wait for me a little bit longer.’ Dani thought as she started to move to the left, feeling more exhausted as her muscles strained to comply with her mental commands.
“Merlin?! Aslan?!” Dani shouted as she slowly slinked up the stairs and to the door. “I am here!”
