|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:00 pm
Lliote stepped into the shrine. It was, to his surprise, empty. Earlier there had been other shadows, shapes, other people, but now it was only him. He moved towards the pedestal. There were words on it, and words were meant to be read. He knew this. The Goddess, wrought with Paranoia, created ====, her last and final project before ====. It was then that she discovered how to replicate ====.
"Or so it goes."
Her voice jolted him, and Lliote turned around to see the Goddess behind him. Fog seemed to seep out from her presence. Wires emerged and spun around, hissing and snapping at the hair and his ankles. Lliote stepped back, unsure of what to do. The Goddess didn't seem to mind as she stepped forward and presented him with a simple bag. He looked down at it. There was a lock on it, but the key was attached to one of the drawstrings. Lliote looked at the Goddess, unsure if he was to open the bag as he wanted to.
"Go on," urges the Goddess, her smile crooked but hopeful, "open it up. I have a gift for you."
Lliote opened the bag, but there was nothing inside. He looked up at the Goddess confused (like a puppy denied its dinner, I mean). He listened intently as the Goddess explained how to rectifcy the situation.
They don't need it. They didnt' quite make it.
A heart?
Lliote wondered, briefly, what the Goddess meant but he didn't linger on it. After all, words were wind. He stepped into the box as his Goddess smiled. On the other side, there were three doors and Lliote stepped towards the third one without hesitation. The yellow symbol seemed to pulse, to draw him closer, and though it felt of malice and terror, Lliote pushed it open.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:18 pm
...lliot...
El...ellio...
iot... ell...
Elliot...Elliot...
Elliot...
The door slammed shut behind him. It is dark. It is darker than anything, darker than the shadows in the spire, the hollow of his Goddess' chest and darker than night. He steps forward. The hallway morphs with each step he takes. He walks and he walks until he walks into something. His foot hits it hard and the pain shoots up his leg. He reaches down to touch it. It is a box, or at least it feels like a box. Lliote tries to edge around the box, but no matter how he moves, the hallway shifts to point him towards the box. Okay, he decides, this must be it. He reaches into it.
Thump-thump.
It is soft, warm, almost familiar.
Thump-thump.
It is a heart.
Thump-thump.
He reaches up with the scissors. The Goddess had given him scissors. This must be what they were for. He pushes in with the edge, and cuts. There is resistance. He cuts that. Something gushes and pulses against his hand but it is not the heart. He cuts that too. He cuts everything until there is nothing but a hole and a heart and he is close, so close, so close---
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
Something sinks into his arm, something so cold it freezes him.
ELLIOT
Something screeches a name, it must be a name, with a voice so piercing, Lliote thinks that it might just crack his core. But then it is gone, and the thing clawing into his arm falls limp.
In the summer, her hair seemed to grow golden with the sun. Summer was not her favorite season but ---- thought it suited her the most. In the summer, when they all went to the lake, and her brown hair would glow golden, he loved that the most. She turned around, her face bright and happy, "Elliot!", she said as if his presence meant something to her. She called his name, and he followed.
He pulled it out. The heart was still warm, but it did not beat as loudly. He placed it carefully in his bag. He hoped this would please his Goddess.
"Hello," she said, "my name is Emmaline. Emmaline Grant. You must be Elliot right?"
"Yeah," he said, "I'm Elliot Sjökron."
He thought her smile was like the sun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:29 pm
He was walking. He felt like he did that a lot, walking. He wondered where the door was. He had to return to his Goddess, she was waiting for him after all, but... But the hallways didn't realign themselves anymore. They seemed to be getting less solid. They were wet. He kept walking. He trusted his Goddess. But he could not walk any farther because there was nowhere left to walk. It was a dead end.
Water continued to pour in around him, and well, since he couldn't walk that way, Lliote turned around and started walking in another direction. The water got deeper, colder, but Lliote did not stop. His Goddess was waiting.
"Please give it back."
He turned, looking for the voice.
It called out again, but Lliote walked and walked until the water had reached his neck. He had to get this back to his Goddess but he couldn't go any farther.
"Please give me back- give me back my heart."
And then he was under the water. It seemed to sap away at him, seemed to strip his core of its brilliance. No, he thought, my Goddess gave me that. He was sinking further and further and he was staring at someone's eyes. They were glossy and gray, but he recognized them. He thought he could see the palest shade of lavender in them.
-------- would have died for her, but he, he could kill for her. That was the difference between them. He would kill anyone, everyone, for her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:34 pm
His Goddess. His Goddess was waiting for him. She was waiting for him to come back. He had to come back. He couldn't let her down. His Goddess.
He looked down and realized he still had his scissors in his hand.
He could kill anyone for her. Even if the person he had to kill was her. Wasn't that better? Wasn't that better than living this empty cursed life? He could do it. He could free her from it. He could suffer anything for her, even the loss of her.
He thrust the scissors deep into her. She shrieked, the same gut-wrenching shriek he'd heard earlier. And then he disappeared.
The water too was disappearing. He coughed up the stuff that he had swallowed and stared at the light. It was a door. It was the exit. This must have been a test. He walked to the door, but could not help turning around. He didn't know why but he wanted to know what had happened to her. For a moment, he thought he saw her, glaring back, his scissors in hand, but Lliote blinked and she was gone.
He stepped into the door.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:52 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:03 pm
Lliote woke up disoriented. It was cold, and the lights above him were so stark that he could not see. He slid off whatever it was that he was lying on, a metal table of some sorts. That was odd. He didn't remember falling asleep... The air hummed and Lliote's head spun. In front of him he could see a door, yes. He needed to return to his Goddess. She needed him. He need to return to her. He remembered her appearing, he remembered her pointing towards the slit. He remembered her glowing eyes on him as he walked. She was watching. She was watching him. He opened the door.
The hallway outside was so blindly white. Lliote's eyes watered. It was so bright. He wanted to return to the familiar grays of his Goddess' domain. He walked on. Even though Lliote knew that he was walking, he didn't feel as if he was moving. The hallway stretched on to infinity and he could not see the end or the beginning. He turned around and looked at the door that he had come from. It was still there. It was open.
Thud.
He looked behind him again. And this time he saw something. They were watching him.
And then he heard it.
Thump.
Thump.
Scrape. Scratch. Thump. Screech.
They weren't just watching him. They were following him.
< You start running. >
Lliote started running. He ran as far as he could and as fast as he could. And then, finally, at the end of the hallway that stretched to infinity he ran into a door. It had words, Passcode required that made his heart drop to his stomach.
He stumbled and pushed against the door. It had no effect. The shadows drew closer and they were whispering...
You failed her. You didn't protect her. You let her die. You let her. You failed her. You can't save her. You don't have the strength. You are weak.
[45 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:05 pm
He panicked. The door didn't move. He looked around. Maybe there was a hint somewhere? But the world blurred and all of a sudden he saw the girl with lavender eyes and sun-brown hair.
"Elliot", she said, "this summer, let's go to the lake ok? You'll come too, right"
"What, are you scared?" He replied, half a joke and half not.
"Yeah," she said, suddenly very quiet, "sometimes.... Sometimes I see things. You see them too right?"
He said nothing.
"I feel safer, better, when you're with me. Then I know that they're real."
[40 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:08 pm
"Em, repeat after me, 'they can't hurt me'. Say it."
She squeezed his arm.
"They can't hurt me. They can't hurt me. They can't hurt me."
He reached out and covered her eyes with his hand.
"Don't worry," he said, "I'll protect you."
[35 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:11 pm
He didn't like these images. Lliote grew frustrated and desperate and threw himself against the door again. And again, it was in vain. The shadows around him seemed to cackle with glee.
You failed. You promised and you failed. You aren't strong enough. You'll never be strong enough.
[30 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:13 pm
The mist closed in on him again, and again, Lliote found himself in an unfamiliar memory.
---- was standing there. Em was too. It was the three of them. They were standing under the tree where they had always met and. And something was different. Em looked tired. He didn't understand. What did she mean by 'going away'?
[25 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-4)
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:14 pm
To his left, Lliote noticed a slip of paper. It was stained in red but he could still read it: A C E G. He didn't know what it meant. Was it a passcode? But the numberpad only had numbers on it!
[20 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-4)
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:21 pm
Lliote was still staring at the same piece of paper. He couldn't understand what it meant, but he was sure it had something to do with the passcode.
[15 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:22 pm
He noticed another piece of paper. A=0, B=1, C=2. That was it. Lliote punched the passcode, 0, 2, 4, 5, into the door and it swung open. He ran forward with all his strength. He wanted to get away from those shadows as quickly as possible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:27 pm
He was outside. Lliote looked behind him and the shadows were still following him. He kept running. They screamed at him to return their heart but he had given that to his Goddess. Ahead of him was a bridge. He didn't need to think twice before he ran across the bridge.
He crossed the bridge without hassle. He heard a crack and when he turned around he realized some of the boards in the bridge had fallen. Good. That ought to put a little distance between them.
[30 ft]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minsuil rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:35 pm
He looked behind him. They were still there. They were still following. The dagger in his hand was glowing red and his Goddess' voice echoed through his mind now or never. He pulled out the dagger without hesitation.
He was staring at her but at the same time it wasn't her. It was Emma. But this was Emma suspended in something akin to death. Her face was empty and she was alone.
I'm sorry, he thought.
I'm sorry.
But it wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough. He couldn't do anything. Even ----- had done something but he had done nothing.
He plunged the dagger into the heart of the shadow and it dissipated. The door of the house swung open and his dagger seemed to glow even redder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
