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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 4:23 am
It was the full span of three months before Antisana contacted Erytheia again about the troublesome dark spot on his wonder. While it had previously just been an ashen patch of decay hanging over his bed, there were several quite-large patches now: in his chambers, in the oasis, in the quarters of previous knights. And when Antisana drew near to inspect, something came out. Something that definitely didn't look like any truely living creature.
And it felt like Chaos. It was undeniable now that there was Chaos on his wonder. Not youma. It didn't feel like a youma, but still something sickly and evil that permeated his senses, making Antisana's one haven away from attack not so much a 'haven,' anymore.
He was going to lose it. He was going to go actually mad with how often he was attacked by youma on Earth, always needing to be on alert, never time for rest- and now he couldn't even escape to his wonder for a reprieve? Antisana was starting to believe death- or corruption- might simply be easier. At least he could rest...
Fear of that acceptance was what made him seek solace from another experienced knight. He knew Erytheia had dealt with Chaos on his wonder before, and Antisana had offered to allow the other man to see the dark spots on his wonder, as well. He'd meant to do it earlier, but he was so accustomed to fleeing to hsi wonder when he needed to, when he needed the break, that it was sometimes difficult to coordinate that with another person.
Not that his caves offered any 'break' recently, anyway.
"My apologies," Antisana murmured as he and Erytheia landed in the all-consuming darkness of his wonder's caverns. It certainly wasn't as open and airy and dotted with lovely flowers as the other was probably used to, but Antisana knew his way around well enough. He stepped to the side, letting his palm ghost over the cavern wall until it met with a wire. He trailed across it until he found the dial switch to light the battery-powered string lights he'd hung along the walls for just such purpose.
The cavern was wide and tall enough for the pair of them, though not much else. There had been little by way of life here to begin with, but he could still smell that almost-ashy scent even here.
He notched his head down the path. "Come on," he said as he started forward. "The first patch, the largest patch, is in my chambers."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:56 am
As Antisana guided him through the dark cavern, he could smell it. It was that same burnt, ashy and dead scent. There was no mistaking it. It was here, too. And there must be a lot of it for him to smell it even here before they reached their destination. Erytheia wondered if that is why the page had summoned him now and not earlier. It, like on his own wonder, had spread. Any thoughts he had about containment had long since fled his mind. The light was bright at first, but then settled. The string lights reminded him a bit of starlight, a setting he was more comfortable with. He had to admit that the cavern was starting to agitate his claustrophobia. “So, it originated in your chambers?”✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 5:49 am
"It was where I initially noticed it," he agreed. Maybe when Antisana had called it 'first,' that was not quite accurate. He knew there were caverns he hadn't explored, and he supposed there was as good a chance of the first dead patch being somewhere he'd never seen as somewhere he had. But the first he'd noticed had been directly over his place of rest, where he consistently sought peace from the trials of the city. He'd seen it and thought little of it; it would go away in time.
Except it hadn't.
As they strode ahead, the tunnel widened marginally in size. Not significantly by any stretch of the word, but enough that a great circular opening carved from the stone and obscured by a curtain of glittering red and black beads did not quite reach the ceiling.
The burned, ashy scent hung heavy in the air here. The majority of the tunnels had little life in them to begin with; he and Erytheia had crossed nothing of interest on their walk here, but even in the dim lighting, with just the string lights on the tunnel walls guiding the way, it was obvious that whatever was here was en masse behind the beadwork curtain. Antisana inhaled a quiet breath to steady himself, gave a tight little nod, and pushed through the beads.
It was quiet. Because of course it was. Nothing in here lived to make a sound, at least until they were closer. He flit into the cavern quickly, using matches from his subspace pocket to light cinnamon-scented candles that he'd placed around the cave to ward off the ash-scent and provide whatever light the could.
The circular entryway opened into some combination of study and living quarters, with a great stone desk and shelving carved out of the walls. The shelves were lined with tomes, stoppered liquids, and the tendrilly, desecrated remains of aesthetic plants. The folding chair at the desk, clearly something Indra had brought from home, was less impressive. A curved stone stairway of four steps molded from the earth led to another cavern toward the rear, but it was darkened. The candle light didn't even come close to penetrating that blackness. But that was where the dark patch was.
"I think it will be on us when we reach the stairs," Antisana murmured. ...And then he wondered if Erytheia was yet familiar with the attacks. Nothing of the sort had been happening when last they spoke. He blinked quizzical eyes back at the knight, and then iterated. "Something comes out of it now, some... sludge creature. It is not powerful, but it will try to hurt you. ...Has that happened on Erytheia...?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:39 am
Erytheia sighed when Antisana mentioned the creature attacking. So, here, too. He cocked his bow. “Yes. Only once. But there was a small creature that attacked me.”And the knight was unusually quiet. Not comment about the room or the books or the potions. Just amber eyes searching the darkness for what could be lurking there. ✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:59 pm
If there had been any chance that their wonders were suffering different ailments, that hope seemed dashed, now. Things were attacking Erytheia, too. Even these places, which should be void of most everything, including Chaos, were unsafe. Antisana gave a tiny, resigned nod in response. It shouldn't be any consolation that he wasn't alone in these occurrences, but it was, in its own way. He just chose not to admit it out loud.
As they moved into the chamber, Antisana veered slightly off to the side to retrieve what looked suspiciously like a fire iron leaning against the real wall. His quarters had no fireplace, but others had before him, with tools left for the taking from separate caverns. And the poker was such an acceptable weapon.
He'd be an idiot to ignore it.
As promised, Antisana moved closer to the stairway, and from the darkness emerged some oilslick creature. It seemed to pick itself out of the earth, disentangling from the now-very-apparent dark spot with the sputtering of ooze. It wasn't large, with its hunched form standing only as tall as Antisana's waist. And it seemed quite... slow. Burbling and shuffling nearer to them. A part of Antisana liked to believe the thing was just unaccustomed to Time as Pluto saw it, but it probably wasn't worth pondering over to any exceptional degree.
He whacked it with the fire iron, and as it plopped to the side, it made a screech of sound as spindly arms made to strike back. But it was already down, and Antisana had no problem spearing it to the ground, where it seeped back against the stone. He glanced back at Erytheia. "It will not stay down for very long, if we continue to poke around. Keep your guard up, even though it is not very threatening."
But there was probably no point in telling someone as experienced as Erytheia that. Antisana glanced away, scratching lightly through the purple locks of his hair. Then shrugged, and moved closer to the stairs.
There were only about four of them, long enough to stretch the length of the open, circular entryway to his bedchambers. It was near pitch dark beyond the beaded curtains, and the black spot encompassed nearly the whole room.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:11 am
Erytheia recognized the creature immediately. It happened just like on his world. Perhaps the beast was slower and it seemed incapable of flight like the one he had killed on his wonder. Still, it left a pit in his stomach to know one was on yet another wonder. “I’ll be careful.” He said as he put an arrow into his bow and shot through one in the hallway. A brief light like a shooting star illuminated the room with the path of his arrow. He could see the spot taking over the chamber and frowned. He didn’t like how big it was. ✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 4:16 pm
Antisana followed in the path of Erytheia's arrow, taking the steps slowly and pushing the beaded curtain out of the way as he moved into the room beyond. Like the rest of his wonder, it was mostly dreary and cavernous: a dark, stone room embellished mostly with things Antisana had personally brought from Earth from this millennia. Another set of string lights that he flicked on with help from the light given off by his cinnamon-scented candle, more strategically placed candles littered throughout the room, empty Great Value water bottles that he hadn't found time to discard.
His bed, the desecrated plants poking intermittently through the walls, empty divots in the ground near his footboard that had once been filled by pools of time. These were left over from centuries past.
He didn't have a great, blackened garden as evidence of the plague living on his world. It was mostly just the smell, and if he squinted hard enough, then ashenness of the cavern walls may not just be shadows from the dim lighting, but an actual stain on the stone. The plants had always been somewhat dreary when he'd seen them (though he was sure they glowed with a certain luminosity in the past), but they crumbled beneath even his gentlest touch now.
With great care, Antisana plucked one from the wall, cradling the ashy cinders in an open palm, and brought it to Erytheia for inspection.
"It has always been dark and empty here," he murmured. No vibrant fields like on the other knight's wonder. "So it was hard to tell that anything was wrong, at first. But now..." Now things were attacking him. The dark spot was noticeable. Was it trying to kill anything living on his wonder? Was it looking for the Code and just not finding it? Both? Neither? He shook his head. "I still am unsure what to do about it."
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 2:48 pm
Erytheia bent down to inspect the stone floor. He could smell it stronger now, filling his nostrils in the cavernous space. How had he not noticed the strong scent of death and smoke until now Antisana had mentioned it? Perhaps it was because his own wonder was the exact opposite of the one he stood on now. With its open plains and constant winds, the ash had likely scattered before he even arrived at the spot. He’d noticed the plant death first then, but here he saw the dark soot and diseased smell. “No wonder is truly empty.” At first, Erytheia had thought that about his own wonder. How there was nothing there compared to others. But he had eventually found that his wonder was the island itself and everything it contained, be it but few man-made structures. “Tell me. What was this plant before?”Erytheia eyed the dying husk in Antisala’s hands with fascination only just recently sparked by Sailor Ida. ✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:23 pm
'No wonder is truly empty.'
Well, he wasn't wrong. Of course it seemed like there was nothing here for Antisana to appreciate: no plants, no insects, no light, but he held the dead and dried remains of something in his palms. Perhaps with time and more knowledge, his world would host something alive once again. "I suppose not," he agreed quietly. "No matter how it feels." And in all fairness, it did not usually cause him any undue strain to think his world empty. It was dark, dreary and lonely, but also quiet and peaceful... when the stench of Chaos wasn't in the air.
Antisana blinked at Erytheia's curiosity, a little taken aback by the question, as he glanced down to the husk in his hands. What was it? Well... "Oh. I would have no idea what to call this plant," he admitted. The scarce flora had never been a topic of discussion in any past memories he'd been privy to.
"But..." With a little shrug, Antisana returned the decayed plant to the floor, leaving it nestled against the cavern wall while he descended the few stairs back to the main entryway. Most of the main objects of interests were his own belongings from the current time, but among the edged stone shelves he selected one tome of a scattered few volumes. It was heavy and sturdy in his grip. Even if it had been around for a millennia, there'd been practically nothing to disturb it. No insects, no light, nothing to rummage about with oily fingers.
It felt about as fragile as any standard library book, but he still opened it quite carefully. He delicately flipped the pages before settling near one at the end and offering it for Erytheia to observe. "I believe it was this one," Antisana said, pointing at a greyscale sketch of a viney shrub with little rounded leaves. There was a haze around it, replicating some sort of light emittance.
"There were never other people on Antisana. Only the knight. I think I may have enjoyed drawing back then." With nothing else to do. He shrugged. "This book is full of plants I expect used to be here, though I have no idea their names. You may look, if it would please you."
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 4:34 pm
Erytheia nodded when Antisana said he would not know what to call the plant. It made sense. If the previous Antisana was not around as a ghost like his own ancestor was on his wonder, then there was no one to ask what it was. He knew the flowers on his own wonder were called ‘starseed blooms’ because Yuki had told him. But Antisana pulled out a very old book and opened it and pointed to a picture of a plant. “So this is the plant, you think?”He looked closer to see the detail and a haze around it that was illustrated. “Does this book mention anything about it or just this sketch? It looks so real. You must have had a good eye for detail in your past life.”✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:05 am
"As much as I can tell," Antisana agreed with a shrug. He did only have the decayed remains of plants to judge from, but he could see similar shapes in their leaves (for as grayed and dehydrated as the current specimen was), and he even thought he might've seen this plant growing in these chambers in a memory. But he was hardly a botanist and had never paid an especially careful eye to greenery of any nature.
His head canted slightly as he studied Erytheia and the book. Maybe he was imagining it, but he thought the other man might have been excited to see Antisana holding a plant in his hand. "Are you very inspired by horticulture? If it would be of any interest to you, I would not find it offensive if you wanted to take a sample of any plants you find here."
"Although, it might be best to wait until this... situation is resolved..."
It would not be his fault if this Chaos were to spread, even if it had already infected Erytheia's world as well...
Returning to the book, he carefully flicked through a few pages. "There are notes on some." He pointed to another specimen, a squat little mushroom that current Antisana had never encountered in person. "But they are not in any script I am familiar with."
"An eye for detail or too much time on his hands. Perhaps if I find myself especially bored, I could take it up again." But it wasn't a skill he'd ever honed or had much interest for. He shrugged. "You may look through it, if you like. There are others-" He gestured to where he'd pulled this one from the shelves. "With creatures and landscapes."
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:52 am
“I’m afraid I don’t know much about horticulture. But I am trying to learn given the state of the plants on my wonder — and on other worlds.”Erytheia gestured to the withered plant. “Given that whatever is killing these plants is spreading, I want to learn all I can to try and stop it.”✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:33 pm
"Hm..."
Should he try and learn? Antisana was so exhausted that he rarely tried to accomplish anything on his wonder. He was frankly quite lucky that his main chamber was even this habitable, and it was barely that. Dimly lit, cold, dark, rife with decay, festering in Chaos. He was supposed to be offering some kind of protection to this place, and he certainly wasn't doing that, since there was Chaos here, where there shouldn't be.
It felt like the least he could do was study up, like Erytheia was doing...
"I will... I will see if there is anything to be gained from the tomes left behind. I have never noticed any mentions or depictions of something that may have been Chaos, but I have also never been looking. If I find anything, I will let you know."
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 11:16 am
“And I will likewise let you know if I find out anything about this Chaos.”✪
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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