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 Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:32 pm
[ Backdated to Dec 26th ]
She was stalling.
Again.
Mary had, in her almost… twenty years of life, never handle the concept of failure well. Most of her younger years were spent trying to be her mother’s perfect little child, and always arrived just shy of her mother’s expectations. It was arguably a bar that never stayed in one spot, but she shot for it anyway. ‘Try hard kid’ described her perfectly up through middle school.
Somewhere in high school, she realized she’d never be that girl. Mary accepted it. She moved on. The cosmos blessed her with something far more important than her mother’s approval: the Bifrost. While not a portal between realms, it helped those in a hurry get from one side of the Surrounding to the other. The Surrounding encircled the Sol System, and acted as the last line of defence against the dark.
Lot good that did a thousand years ago.
Yet, it was hers, and bequeathed to her in a time of great peril. Unobtrusive, the iridescent white marble made no pledge of grandeur or fame. It simply stood, a silent gate for those in need, and she it’s gatekeeper. It was a simple task, a simple expectation to uphold. She did not carry the weight of a city or planet on her shoulders, no star system to rule over. Just a small outcropping in the middle of space.
The koi pond bubbled beneath her gently, the garden alight with moonlight. Mary felt unworthy of the title in some ways. She spun the signet ring on her finger anxiously, an action that had become habit for her in the last few months. She did not think she acted in a manor the Bifrost would respect, or ever had in the first place. Mary ran from her so called duty, overwhelmed by expectations a millennia old. She’d protected civilians from the Negaverse, but had not, by the same token, taken the fight to them. How could she, when the universe blessed her with barely the ability to fight or defend herself beyond an immovable barrier?
She felt, in truth, like she’d accomplished nothing in the last four years since her awakening and rebirth. Time flew by her, and she was left in the wake of it’s passing. Then again… the ring circled her finger for the uptenth time. It wasn’t the Silver Millennium or the height of a gilded age. It was… 2016, on Earth, in a solar system that hadn’t had magic in centuries. In all that had happened since her awakening, there weren’t opportunities to rise to grandeur or fame, or make a note on the cosmos. To that end, all she was in the grand scheme of things was a lost girl of a splintered court, trying to protect an empty and lonely part of space.
Would the Bifrost deem her worthy, even with that?
The signet ring’s markings shifted into view as the chill of space welcomed her like an old friend. Her wonder was not particularly imposing; it never had been. A simple pedestal stood center of the small balcony lined with an ornate railing. The landing took four steps to reach to the top, marble shimmering with each. The top of the pedestal had an indentation to put her hand. Doing so either created a rainbow road of marble from her location to another portion of the Surrounding, or a small one room cottage, just off the edge. It stood non judgemental, and unmoving, save the floating woman off to one side. Bifrost wondered on occasion, whether she was supposed to make the wonder more, or if it would reveal itself in time. If she did not know its secrets, perhaps she was not worthy of them. Not yet.
“I was starting to worry…” said Prena softly, a kind if reserved smile on her face. Her ancestor had devoted her life to the Bifrost in its entirety, and died within it. Surely she was more worthy of it than Bifrost herself. “We’ve something to do, before we can begin the ceremony. You brought provisions, yes?”
Bifrost nodded, gesturing to the bag hanging from her arm. Three earth days she’d be here, maybe four, to complete the changing of the guard ceremony. Even with Prena saying she was ready, she had her doubts, and still… hope. She was hope eternal, even in her depression. If the ceremony went well, then her fears would be assuaged she hoped.
“Apologies… I’ve just been thinking things through. What is it we need to do?” she asked, tucking blonde hair behind her eyes. Prena swayed in the air and gestured out towards the inside of the Surrounding.
“We… well, you, must find my starseed. When the post changed over, it was both an awakening and retirement. Awakening for the new knight, and retirement for the old. I… would like to have my starseed there. It’s time I retired, after all,” said her ancestor, who glanced back at her. “As I died here… it should still be here. Search the bridge, you’ll know when you’ve found it.”
Bifrost placed the bag by the pedestal, hand hovering over the depression. “How will I know?” Lilac eyes glanced at Prena, hesitant.
“... You’ll know.” Cryptic was, and was not, like the Force ghost. Bifrost frowned at her, but Prena said no more. Bifrost placed her hand on the pedestal, and felt it hum to life beneath her fingers.
Where to, young Gatekeeper? Bifrost closed her eyes, calming every nerve within her.
“Take me to Prena’s starseed,” she commanded quietly. Power rippled beneath her fingertips, flowing down the marble to the ledge. The railing split, swinging forward like a gate. Marble materialized from the opening and disappeared into space.
As you command.
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:34 pm
Bifrost walked slowly, trying to see where there might be the glitter of a starseed or a compartment. Her signet ring had been in a compartment on the balcony; it wasn’t a stretch to think Prena’s soul might be hiding in the spindles of the railing. Nothing stuck out at her.
In general, the Surrounding and the Bifrost by design, were incredibly deceptive on the distance you walked. The Surrounding quite literally existed around the Sol System - billions upon billions of light years wide. However, you could walk from one outpost to another in a fairly short amount of earth time. The magic of the Surrounding allowed you to cross great distances in the least amount of time possible. The Bifrost added to this, by giving a short cut across the diameter of the Surrounding. Quite literally through the Sol System. It was not a flat line (Bifrost was sure it curved to miss the sun and giant planets like Jupiter), but it too let you travel billions of light years in roughly half an hour. It always seemed far longer than that though, lost out in the middle of space.
Without a marker of time, time didn’t exist. It simply… was.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been walking or if she’d been moving at all until the road grew dark and dim. The marble lost it’s shimmer, fractures maring it’s perfect surface. Portions of the railing gave way under her light touch. Something terrible had happened here, she deduced as she stepped around holes in the marble. The road slowly fanned out into an observation deck-like shape. What railings still existed came to a close on the other side. A broken bench littered the middle of the deck, chunks of marble scattered about.
This was where she died.
Bifrost looked up from the broken bench and took a shaky breath. The expanse of the cosmos poured out above her, around her, below her. Distant stars flickered in the blackness of space, colored by tiny swirling galaxies and slow moving planets. She felt infinitely small, a single speck of light among the dark. Its beauty enraptured her, and Bifrost knew why her ancestor had died here. Here, beneath countless worlds, was the promise of hope. Hope not all systems would fall to Chaos, hope that light would survive, hope that one day…
One day she’d get a second chance.
The squire sat herself down on the broken bench, propping herself up with her hands. Something sharp jabbed her left hand and she winced, pulling it back. Amid the rubble sat a small piece of what looked like crystal, perfectly cut, that pulsed ever so softly. It was maybe the length of her pinky if she was generous. The surface shown a dulled gold color, though the pulse within glowed magenta.
“There you are…” she breathed, gently picking up the starseed. She cradled it within her hands, examining it for fractures or breaks. It seemed intact, if weak. Bifrost brought it to her chest briefly, and bowed her head in a silent blessing.
One final gaze at the cosmos, and she took off back down the Bifrost, Prena’s starseed in her hands.
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:38 pm
Prena looked up the moment her feet graced the balcony and the road behind her shimmered out of existence. Her ancestor lit up, far more bright and herself than Bifrost had ever seen her. She looked younger, happier, from a time before war and chaos and destruction overtook the universe. The starseed in her hands pulsed stronger, reunited with its mistress.
“You found it,” breathed Prena, relief in her voice. Ghostly hands cupped Bifrost’s and her ancestor smiled down at the small, fragile crystal.
“I found it, in the darkest part of our wonder, amid all the stars in the sky. I think I can understand why you died there,” replied Bifrost quietly. Prena chuckled softly, wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye. It was so very odd to see her ancestor - known for her stoic attention to duty and somber expressions - alive and joy. Almost as though she was around Bifrost’s age when she died. Prena smiled at her and leaned over to peck her cheek.
“Thank you… now, I believe we’re ready. Let us retire to the antechamber,” said Prena, gesturing to the pedestal with a hand. “Once we enter, if you’ll place my starseed on the bookcase? We won’t need of it until the second part of the ritual.”
Bifrost opened the antechamber, and ancestor and descendant entered the small room. As requested, she placed the small crystal on the bookshelf, next to a gold hair comb she remembered seeing the last time she’d been here. Her fingers touched the comb briefly before she followed her ancestor over to the large book on the desk.
“Today is a day of instruction. Generally, when the incoming knight is a page, the former knight would instruct them upon the rules and guidelines of the wonder. However, you know all of this already, though I’ll impart a few other notes. You’re free to use them if you wish.” Prena looked at her, then at the book. “This tome was both ledger and history book for the knights. It dictated out procedures of the wonder, as well as surrounding mandated rules in the event of an attack or invasion.”
Bifrost leaned over to look at it, flipping a few pages. The writing was completely unreadable, though the little pictures were nice. She grimaced and looked up at Prena.
“I can’t read any of this. The pictures are nice, but I’ve never seen this script before,” said the squire, running her hands across the page. Prena smiled at her and chuckled.
“That’s alright… It’s not quite imperative for the current age. You should know of it’s existence, should it come in handy some day.” Prena turned to the rest of the room.
“This is the antechamber, as you know. It is both an office, as well as a safehouse, though it is not impenetrable. Not much else to say, though. Not much too it.” Bifrost nodded, listening quietly. Given the state of the play she found Prena’s starseed, she understood it was not a fortress. The antechamber would be found, eventually. Hopefully, the Negaverse didn’t invade the Surrounding again and she’d not have to deal with it.
“The bridge you know well. The bridge will take you across the Surrounding, or too a few different outcroppings generally used for meditation or, I’ll admit it, hiding. It’s otherwise self explanatory.” Prena glanced around, at a bit of a loss of what to add to the explanation. An awkward silence sort of fell over the two until Bifrost giggled, Prena looking sheepish.
“Perhaps we should have tea, and spend the rest of today in on the cushions?” said the squire. Her ancestor nodded, thankful for the cover of her lack of information to pass on.
Tea smoothed over every awkward situation.
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:39 pm
[ Dec 27th ]
The next day felt muted and quiet when Bifrost awoke. Prena stood by her starseed and the comb, staring at them. Bifrost started some fresh tea, and waited quietly until Prena addressed her some hours later.
“Ah I forgot something yesterday. The knight of Bifrost has a guardian of sorts. While this guardian is, admittedly, not the strongest creature in the universe, it is helpful when you’ve placed a shield and can no longer move or defend yourself,” said Prena, turning to Bifrost. The squire glanced around for said guardian, but did not see one. She’d never even seen one on the Bifrost at all.
“Where is it? I’ve not seen a guardian creature for the Bifrost…” she asked, head tilting to the side. Prena chuckled, glancing back at the shelf for a moment, smiling to herself.
“Heimdall has not appeared in many a century… perhaps you’ll find him once the wonder is officially yours,” said the Force ghost. One last riddle for her to figure out.
“Now… generally today, we would have you find your signet ring, though you’ve accomplished that already. Instead, today we’ve another task…” Bifrost walked over the shelf and gently grabbed her ancestor’s starseed.
“Setting you free,” she finished for her, smiling down at the starseed. “Is there any sort of formality for this?”
Prena shook her head. “No, no formality unless you decide there should be. We do have one formality before hand.” Prena floated into the center of the room, facing her.
“I, Prena, knight of the Bifrost, bequeath the Bifrost and the title of knight unto Mary. Henceforth she will be known as Squire of the Bifrost, and uphold the post as dictated by the Knight’s Code and that of the Surrounding and Chronos Knights. By Chronos and the Bifrost, I retire my position,” recited Prena, more to the wonder than Bifrost herself. Something resonated within the marble and hummed. The walls shimmered and Bifrost felt a rush of energy surge through the antechamber. The room trembled with the energy, marble flickering gold and magenta underneath her.
With another distinct hum, the energy shot up through Bifrost, enveloping her in golds and magenta. It changed her, reminding her of a time in her grandmother’s garden when she needed more power. Cloth tightened, armor expanded, and a heavy weight pulled on her right arm.
As the light fade, she found herself ringing with power, and more powerful than before. A shield sat attached to her right arm, a chain wrapped around the gauntlets. A cape fluttered down from her shoulders, light as lace. More leather armor graced her form and Bifrost Knight smiled kindly at her ancestor.
“I humbly take on this responsibility and will hold the line until the end of my days.” She bowed her head, dismissing the shield from her arm.
“And now, Prena, retired knight of the Bifrost, I relinquish you from your duties, and set you free. May your starseed find the Cauldron and rebirth,” said the knight, lifting the starseed up into the center of the room. Prena smiled as the crystal floated up into the air and floated into the incorporeal ancestor. The starseed glowed bright, encompassing Prena in its light.
“Thank you... “ The voice echoed through the air, as well within Bifrost’s mind. A sense of warmth and farewell washed over her, as the light faded.
Then she was alone.
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:39 pm
[ Dec 28th ]
Bifrost permitted herself only tea during the third and final day of her vigil. The antechamber was strange being so silent; it took quite a few hours for her to become comfortable with the silence. It was not as though Prena’s presence was gone - she felt… something within her that ruled that out - but it was empty.
After drinking two full pots of tea, she began to clean up the antechamber. It was to be a meditative vigil, but after sitting for two hours twiddling her thumbs, she decided it could be something involving more… movement. Many of the shelves were covered in dust, and quite a few of the drapes needed a good smacking to free themselves of the dust they held.
Idly, she grabbed the gold hair comb and pulled up her hair with it, to keep it out of her face.
The drapes were first. She took them outside and beat them with a walking stick she’d found in the antechamber until no more dust puffed out of the fabric. She repeated the process with the rugs. It was rather cathartic, in all honesty. She timed her breathing with each strike, and worked up a rather nice sweat in doing so. The pillows and cushions got a good smacking as well, just to be safe.
The shelves took far longer. Each book and little object was methodically removed from its home, dusted and set aside while she finished a shelf and dusted it completely. One would think that a room that didn’t exist a good portion of the time wouldn’t collect dust, but they’d be wrong. It collected a lot of dust. So much so, that for some of the shelves, she had to scrap it off with a damp rag. Bifrost wondered if Prena had ever dusted the place during her stay within it. Something told her she’d not done much in the way of cleaning.
Hours passed as she moved around the small room, cleaning every piece of furniture and dusty object she could find. Some books refused to leave the shelf, while a couple of the actual shelves broke when she attempted to dust them. The antechamber hummed quietly as she worked, paying delicate attention to all the crevices. Bifrost hummed a soft tune to herself, filling the room with sound. It helped fight off the loneliness trying to creep into the walls as she worked. The large tome on the desk would not move, so she cleaned around it, being careful of the pages and the cover. Drawers were forced opened and organized, cabinets cleaned out of any broken and crumbling objects.
Two garbage bags later of broken china and decorative pieces, and the room was finally clean. The marble continued to hum as she replaced curtains and rugs. Bifrost paused, stepping into the depression in the floor where the cushions went. The middle of it bore a large Chronos symbol, with the same bridge symbol on her signet ring.
In the middle held another depression, this time hand sized with a small indentation for her ring, face down. Gently, she placed her hand in the depression, signet ring into the indent.
The Chronos symbol flared into light, the marble of the antechamber singing around her.
The Bifrost hears you, Mary Tunith.
You are worthy of the title of Bifrost, and the Bifrost humbly bequeaths on you one more gift.
Pledge to us, and we shall bestow on you that which you’ve been worthy of since the Surrounding chose you.
The voices sang within her mind, within the walls, and within the air. She felt breathless, taken aback, and suddenly incredibly thankful that the Surrounding raised her from death.
“I pledge my life and loyalty to the Surrounding, Chronos, and to the Bifrost. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine,” said the knight of Chronos, her voice clear as a bell above the stone around her. The room paused, silent and still for a hair’s breath of time.
Use it wisely…
Suddenly energy shot through her, engulfing her once again in golden light. She felt no clothing change, but warmth seared across her chest and back, curling up her neck and down her upper arms. It curled and drew until it settled and pulsed once, twice, thrice and the column of light exploded around her.
Bifrost felt of light, and energy and a connection to her wonder she’d never felt before. The knight looked in the mirror on the wall and let out a soft gasp. Glowing tattoos curled over her chest and neck, and the symbol of Chronos pulsed softly on her forehead.
Transcendent.
[ WC Total: 3467 ]
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