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Tournament of Champions 3 (The game has begun!)
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Also: expect story bit soon
Congratulations, @Usaername !
Edit: Also, huh, Jelene's embed goes to Jelene, the Slave also made by Iron_Onion.
T̶̤́ḥ̷̋ĕ̵̙ ̷̩̑A̸͉̕b̶̟̔y̶͙͆s̷̡͝s̷̙͐
She curled into a ball on the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees, and screamed as tears streaked down her face. A figure burst through the door, a blotch of white, blurred by the tears. The figure reached out, and Akuma backed up, grabbing Zyletka and lashing out at the figure, who jumped back.
"Akuma!" The word reverberated inside Akuma's head, and she clamped her hands over her ears, scrambling so her back was against the wall.
"Get... Get away! Get away from me!" She held Zyletka up to her neck, the razor sharp edge drawing blood as it touched her skin. She let out a sob and tried to draw the blade across her throat, but something held her hand in place. She thrashed against it, screaming. She scrabbled for her tanto, and found it on the floor, but before she could unsheathe it, a pulse of magical energy washed over her, and she collapsed, unconscious, onto the floor.
(Dream sequence to come)
Changing your card from 3 cmc to 3 cmc does not count as a card. So you can do it and still add an additional signature or companion card.
MonkeyPirate2002 Thank you but not all fights will be like this either in depth, length or cruelty. It is planned though that all matches in each new stage should be at average, longer than earlier since there are half as many fights.
Who is Iron_Onion? I don't know anyone by that name. hmm, sounds like the name of a slave.
"Which makes me the monster."
What!?
"..."
Ehm, let's just continue as usual.
Darkness swept over the manor’s courtyard as noon turned to night, held back only by torches placed sparsely around the area and the moon itself. Its silver light beamed down upon a young girl, the only visitor of the courtyard. She played her violin, letting her emotions dictate the melody while her mind became lost in thought. A torrent of questions whirred around in her head, They were all so different, yet shared the root that lied in each question: The Abyss.
With a grunt of frustration, Niran abruptly stopped playing, ending the music that held her emotions at bay. Abyss this, Abyss that, it was the only thing that seemed to matter anymore in her life! She could never escape her fate, even if only for a moment! She was not a person anymore. She was just a tool.
Just like Relvas.
Niran caressed the back of her neck, remembering what Relvas said. She felt cool ink press against her skin, as abyssal energies emanated from it. The amount of energy inside the ink was not impressive; it barely held more than the pendant Bernadette showed Niran. Yet the way its magic interwove created a complex lock, intertwining threads of the abyss across each other to make her tattoo—A mark of slavery.
Her time with Relvas was much longer than intended, as the Archbishop did not return until evening, much later than expected. She not only learned so much from him, she began to truly know who he was as a person. He was calm and patient, much unlike those who held power over Niran. He showed caring and compassion, even if masked under a grim facade, where others showed only indifference at best and utter malice at worst. He toiled away for a cruel master for over 10 years, yet he never once in his mission to help Niran did he let that trauma get in the way.
But all good things must come to an end. Their time together was cut short as the Archbishop burst through her door, looking tired and beat up as though he had to fight for his life. He pointed angrily at Niran, ordering her to leave the room while he dealt with Relvas’ “misconduct.” Reluctantly, she exited the room with her violin in hand. Niran wandered about once again, yet instead of returning to the mess hall, she took a left down a dark hallway, ending up in the desolate courtyard.
Niran rose up from her seat and meandered through the courtyard. The walk helped to clean her mind, erasing the turmoil within. Yet this state of blissful emptiness would only last for a moment, before being cluttered by her own intrusive thoughts. Gruesome images of those she caused suffering flashed through her mind; Damien, the urchins, Pan, Graagdord, Gorchi. The visceral depiction of Gorchi’s wrathful visage was the most persistent of them all. Her eyes burned with a maddening rage, but held a deep sorrow for her lost love within. Niran wanted to apologize to Gorchi, but she was terrified. She feared she would only worsen Gorchi’s grief if she talked to her, as if accidentally adding insult to injury. It was that simple fact that kept Niran from finding peace in the courtyard, leaving her to lament for the rest of the night.
Ơ̴͚͚̠̦̲̆͗̾͌̅͜ḧ̴͓̺̙́̄́̄,̷̛̦͕͕͙̖͕̫̜̤̙͖̞̗͈͌͛͒̈̅̾̆͜͠ ̷̛̝͙͔̎̔͑̃̃̏͒̆s̴̡̨̨̫̻̮̹̰̬̰̹͉͗̊̃̿́̈̎̅̆͐̽̚͘͝t̷͚̗͚͈͑̿̔͗̍ơ̴̧͉̰̲͙̯̯̞͎̇̀̎̋̈́̆̓̍͛̽͊̕͘͝p̸̱̪̦̪͊̊͊̑̓̋̊̀̈́͘͜ ̶̛͕͖̖̘̫͈͇̋̿̅͛͒́̌̂̀̊̌̈́͑̓p̵̮͕̻̖̲͗̄̕i̷̲̒̊̀̂̔̄̌͑̔͊͑̚͝ẗ̵͖͚̪́͛̈́̐̔ỹ̵̧̢̱̪̩̗͓̥̬͕̬͓͌̉̍̀͋̊̀̈́́i̵̢̞͔͔̱̥͐̃̅̈́͐̂̽̀̈̅͝n̷͉̯̤̙̙͇͔͚͚̪̠̈́̐͑͐̂͆̈́̏̌͆̏͛͘̕͝g̷̖͔̜̺̎͆̄͝ ̵̨̨̛̝̫̲̺̥̺̼̞̪̗̟́͜y̵͓̺̤̠̰̻͇̰̥̬̌͋́̾̍͑̉̌̃ͅo̵̧̜̬̮͓̭͕͔̰̓̇͛ų̷̧̙̭͕̙̥̟̺͓͇̤̣̎̌̓̀͜͝r̵̫̼͙̮̐̆̐̎́̈͝s̶̥̯̥͙͐͂͆̏̐ȩ̵̻̤͓̺̘̬̫̣̖̻̻̹̔̒̔̄͌̇̃̈́̎̎̉̇̓͘͜l̵̜̙̲͐̉͒̀̍͑͑̈́̅̊̀͝͝f̸̩̪̟̙͕͕͚̰̻̙̳͈̜̼́̿͜.̸̢̳͍̥̰̣͔͍̤̰͎̀́͐̾͐̇̾̌͌̄̕
̶̧̨͍̲̹̯̻̣̺̙̙̎͛̇T̴̯̩̭͔̄͋̾̓̓̄͛ḩ̶̧̲̜̦̱̝̙͔͉̖͉̒̉͒̂̂́̎͋͝ͅo̷̰̣̘̙͋̄͛̏̑͛́̈́̍͒̚͠͠s̵͇̭͈͚̞̳̬͛͂̅̈́̐͒̉͋͒͊́͜͠ͅe̸̹̫͕͓͓͎̲͙̯̼͔̣͗̉ ̶͙̯͚͐̽̋̇̈́̊̇͑̚͘͝g̶̫̤̗̈́͒̈́͐̓̅̄̏́͘ơ̴̛̱̪͍̤͙̙̙̘͈̺̈́̊̉̎̔̍̆͛͂̍̋͝͝b̸͔͎͚̾̏̋͘l̸͚̟̦̂̓͘i̸̢̘͎̣͇̯̱̠̝̫̭͓̗͍͛͆̈́̉n̸̘̜̄̿̃š̸̡͈͓͇̗͖̯̤͎̯̖̜̃̈́̊̒̍̉̿̋̆͘ ̵̢̮̘̣̜̈͋͐̂͝ͅç̷̛̰̯̬̲̪̌̏̆͊̌̀̅͘͠h̵̨̨̛̭̫͍̹͈͓͙̳̦̯͇̽͝ͅö̶͈̗̂̀s̶̛̞̹͖̭̣̻͙̱̀̏̍̐͑͜ẹ̸̥͖͚̼̺̙̻̠͚̫͋͊͂̑͋͐̎͘͠ ̶̧̛̬̥̟̹̣͕̫̘̠̼̻͉̟̘͐̓̔̎̌ņ̸̻̲̮͚̫̻̠̓͗̎́̄͊ͅǫ̸̡̟͚̙̝̻̠̙̞̘͚͈͇̂́̓̅̅̕͠͝t̸̡̛̛̒̃̀̇́͌͂͂̚͝ ̸̟̭̊̏͒̐̈́͑̐̓̆͋̃̀͝͝t̶͚̑̐̓̿̌̎̓ǒ̸͙͙̙̙͍̜̫̞͖̻̫͌̀̎̊̋͌̉̓̃̔̓̍̕͜ ̷͈͓̱̱̦̜̲̜̀̀̋̀̃̅̒̄̔̋͂̿̑͛͜ͅr̶̨̨̧̞̞̗͙͍̮͎͂̉̔̍̃̚͜͝u̷̦͚̩̬̻̅͒̽̾̄͋̎̽͘͜͠ņ̴̡̧̥̼̞͈̺͖̤̙̯͈̏͗͑͛̄̾̎̏̔͌̽͂͘͝͠ ̶̨̗͙͔̥̱͓̓̓̕ä̷͖͎̟́̒͘͘͘w̷̨͇̗̅̇̍̀̉̑̏̓̏̽̀̓̇̈́̋a̴̧̱̭̟͎̫̦͕̟̫͌́ͅy̵͓̘̥͎͙̜̮̬̅̇̈́͗͒̃̅͝.̸̨̛͖̻̣̩͎͖̥̲̠̥̰̉̊͜
̷͓̼͙͚̬̼̺̖̓̓͊̑͌̐̔̀̈̊̒́̕F̸̢̮̘̪͋͐̋̽̄̑̔̽o̶̮͓̙̙̟̙̝͔̖̭͑͝r̸̢͘͝ ̷̛̼̳̦͓̈́̌͒͜t̷̨̢͇̙̩͍̥̦̱̾̈́͂̑́͋̿̍̉͒͘̕h̷̫̰̣̝̘̻̭̩̼̦̆̏̃̌̏̽̽a̷͎̱̥̣͕̻͓̓̊̓̃̋͝͠t̴͇̄̂̀̍͌͆͛̊̆̚.̸̜͙͖̥͓̿̇͑̆̋̈́
̴̦̻̼͉̝̪̞̻͇̟͎̙̞̫̉̀̍̊̃̒͌͛̃̀̚͝T̵̢̤͔̟̣̦͈̲̜̩͓̜̰̏̔̂̅̎͆̋͛͗h̶̢͉͙͈̘͓̝͙̠̭͚̾̔̈́̏̆̋͘e̷̫̩̙̹̭̫͕̻̺͉̱͆͊̓̀́͐͋́̾̄͗̾̓͝y̵̛̥̩͎̲̙̬̖̽̈́̅͛̈́̔͐̑͒̓͊̈͘͜͠ ̴̪̃͆p̵̨̦̟̂̃̏̅̊̀̾̊͌̓̇̿͝ȁ̵̛͉̞̤̲̻̬̺͉̘̼̯̈́̉̆i̸̗̫͕̟̺̟̳͙̫͇̝͚̮͊̈̐͠ͅd̵̢̘̖͓̙̯͈͓̗͕̭͊͛̎̈́̂ ̶͎̬̈́̄̈̂ţ̴̥̘̠̝͚͂͆̈́̉͐̀͒͠͠ḧ̸̨̻́ḙ̸̼̞͖̻̬͔̀̆́̐ ̶̢͖͇̼̬͙̠͌p̴̢̢̢̨̢͔̯͖̯͚͓͓̝͒̿̋̿͂̽̌̽̿͘̚r̶̗̺̹͇̯̮̫̋̅̀̾̕̕i̶̖͙̤̼̥̙̘̩͑̒̋̒c̸̢̝͖̙̗̠̥͒̓̀̆̓̅̾̌͐́̿̚͝ę̶̛̺̟̟̅̈́̄̋͗̏͐̀̍̏̐͗̒̅ͅ.̸̯̱͙͔͎̭͓͑̿̽.̸̱̟̣̣̓̅.̸̧̡̮̠̮͖̰͓̌̃̆̏͌̾̐̆̚̕
̵̛̝͍̖̲̰̖̣͚̹͓͍̤̙̦̫̓́͌́̓͆̈́̋̎̊͂͠Ḇ̸̭̱̤̤̒͆̌͝ë̵̩̥̮̝͖̞̼̻̗̗͒͂̅̾̓͊̊̕̕ṣ̵̡̡̖̼̫͙͖̻̼̦̱̈́̂͛͌̏̍͊̑̐̀́͜͝ͅĩ̵̡̝̗̖̰̗̇̚͜d̴͉̙͇̠̩̞̯̳̗̜̜̆̿͗̇͆͂̈́̈́̄͝ȩ̷̢̱̫͚͔̀̐̐͐̃̊͑̈́̈́̂̒̾͜͜͠͝s̶͚̪̳̘͇̾̂̓̿̉̂̿̊̂͂͑̃͊̀̈́͜,̷̻̈́̆͛̄̎͌̈́͐̅̐͘͠͝͝
̴̧̬̻̗̲̎̈̐̍͆̀́̈́̆͆̓͝͝Ṭ̷͌̂͆̈͝h̷̨̛̗̼͍̠͉͖̟͙͎̣͙̻̖̍̓͛̇͂̒͘ḙ̴̩͂͒̑̐̈́̊̍̎̃͂͜r̵̡̗̝̱̣̯͆̋̌̏̊͛̇̎͘͜͝ë̸̡̢͉̪̝̱̖̣͈̘́͊̌̕͠ͅ ̶̢̧̩͕̝͙͍̦̖̬͕̳̰͂͆̓͑͗̅̀̐̓̽͋̾͜͝a̵̘̙͓̺̍͝r̷͎̆͗͛͠ȩ̷̨̟̜̦̹͖̬̖̺̳̫͗̏̇̉̐̕ ̴̬̖̝͙̈̅͑̈́̿̿́͆͊̂͒̔̐͗m̸̛͕̙̮̯̙̮͈̞͉̺̦͙̜̃̇̈̒͗̚͝o̶͙͇̮͚̰̮̫̩̣͙̭̮͚̦̻͐͊̿̏̀̓̋̓̓̕͝͠ṟ̸̨̧̨͉̜͕̝͎̦͍͕̑̉̎̈́̀̓̇͘̚e̶̪̮̓̈̇̃̈́̃͗̅̽̂͜ ̵͉̙̣͙̰̈́̀̉́̄̑́̀̆̍͜p̷̡̢̡̺͈͕͓̖͉̮̝̳̲̓͒̈́͒̓̄͑͛͜r̷̢̙̟̥̩̥̼̳̼̪͍̎̉́̒͆͋̉̾̚͠͝è̷̢̘̠̱͖̎̾̂́̾͗̉̔͋̋̐͝s̷̨̩̹̤̫̏̑̄̃̃̈́͗s̷̛̫̖̓̆͋̉͌̾̓̈͌̾̒̈́͠ì̶̡̞͍͕̭̠̱̦͕̻͖̩̼̥̍̌̇̈́̏̂͑̏͝n̷̬̥͑́̀̕̚g̷̨̧̹̦͔̱̠̺̪̈̐̂̒̔̿͂̅̅̚̕͜ ̷͍̜͖̩̞͈̰͉̟̮̞̎̏͜͝m̴̡͇͙̲̲̹̞̩̳̙͇͋̈́à̸̧̩̳̪̰̯̞͐̄̈́̀t̵͎̬̲̝̄͊ţ̵̢̥͓͈̮̼͑̀̋͆̈́͗̂͝͝ĕ̵̗̮̰̰̏̆͊̃͆̈̇̈r̷̫̩̆͜s̷̡̲̼͍̱͍͍̤̳̣̹̟͎̆̅̑̓͗̀͠ ̸̗̠̪͍̈̀͂͐̒̍̈̂͋̌̈́̚a̵̭̝̜͎̒t̷̮̥̬̥͓͎͋̓́̎͂̈́̈́͝͝ͅ ̷̤̘͌̊̐͛̉̾̆̀̽̈̊̅͝͝h̸̨͈͇͕̯̱̬͉̭̑́̾͆͗̔̔̚͠ã̷͖̹̖͇̖ņ̷̡͈̞̞̦͙̆̆͐̍̄̌̿̿̕ḋ̷̡͈̯̲͓̗͇͔͇͙̻̿͆̿̚.̵̧̠̜̪̖͍̞͚̼͂
Niran no longer even flinched at the presence of the voice. She had grown accustomed to it over the weeks. Besides, her tattoo gave her a new perspective on pain. What she had not expected was to feel her heat slip away, becoming colder than ice. It was not as strong as before, yet the feeling remained prevalent all the same.
What now? Niran asked silently.
Ṫ̴̨̻̠͔͉̩̇ḣ̶̢͖̣̼̬̺̞̮̜̺̭̝̺̉̊e̴̛͓̹̥̱̞̺̝̗̯͇̤͕͕͛̓̐̃͒ ̶̧͇̤͚͙̰͕̗̿̾̅̇͋͘͝ͅd̸̢͚̹̹̓ō̷̮̱͈͙͓̲̺̙̟̜̅͛̕͘ö̶̟̙͉̹̺͔͙́̒̈̐͒̅́̈͠͝r̸̨͓̲͛̅̏̈̏̈̓͝.̴̥̥͔̿͐͛́̅̎̊͐́̀̕
̸͈̲̯̬͉̘̬̹̟̘͙̩̽̽͌̿̓̃̓̕I̴̡͚͚̣̟̬͓͉̞͂̈́̀̆͒̑͐̍̋͘ţ̸̳̼͙̙̠̎̐̚͜͝ ̸̩̝͉̺̓͒̎̉͒͗͛̌̐̽̇̏͘̕͜h̶̨̡̞̩͉̪̰͎̯͈̤̥̠̖̔͊͌̍̾̎̅͠a̶̛͍͕̣̯̫̙͍̙̰͚͙̠͐͂͊͆̎̓̊͠͠s̸̛̜̓̎̍̑͝͝ ̷̛͉̱̙̬͍̖̜̥̓͌̉̀̏͒̓͜͝͠s̴͈̳̟̹͎̻͖̤͔͎͕͎̾̈́́̇̍̒̓̄͑̽̇̕͝p̵̛̟͕̖̽̉͌̽̄̓͊̅̕ṙ̶̛̻͖͙̺̞̭̒̃̈́̍̐̈̏͗̚͜ͅę̴͍͍̪͉̦͖͖̙̥̤̥̐̉̊̃̊̀̑̎̃͠͠͝͝͝a̴̦̋̓̒̎̍͂̿̔̓̈͑͊͠͝d̴̘̘̂̔̈́̈́̀̀͂̓͆̿̾͐̒͘͝ ̶̢̥̗͉͇͎̗͈̯̠̭̤̳͉͈̌̅̓̒̀͂̂̕͠͠í̷̭͚͇̭̱̜̣̀̉̓̏͌͌̍̃̓̅͝t̸̡̘̮̱̣̰͖͉̹̒́͑̎̋̄͛̓̉ș̷̢͖̲̗̟̮͇̇̈́͒͛͛̍́̽́́̋̏͜͠͠ ̴͍͉̥̮̭̿̄̾̿͑̈́̾i̴̢̢͚̬̯͍̻̺͆͒n̷͓̘̻͇͚͙͐f̴͖̠͖̗̩̟͖̦̙̪̙͙̟͗̋̌̒͗͊̌͐̈́́͜͠͝͝l̵̡̡̖͍͇͇̹̑͆̽̄͂̏̇̉́̃̿͆̋͗ͅū̴̧̧̮̘̺̥̻̳͉̮̓ͅę̵͇̗̲͖̻͎͔̺̫̦̖͛̾̈́̅͜ͅͅṇ̶̓̈́̎̈̍̂̉͌͗͂͗͝c̶̡͖̺͓̮̙̱̟͕̳͌̎ͅȩ̶̻͒̐̀̀̈́̔̃̈̃̾̚͝.̷̢̜͇̹̞̞̦͔͎̹͒͐̈́̀̄̏̕͝.̴̥͈͔̣͇̬͇̪̥̃͐̂̓̄̓̀̕.̵̢͎̼̺͚̱̻̏̈́͛̿̍͝ͅ
̴͚͐͊͗̔̋͆̊̉̈́̈́̒Ṭ̴̨̭͖̯͈͚͔̭̯̲̙͑̽́̒̆͛͊̍̂̈́͜͠ͅh̷̪̥̼̣͔͕̬͚̲̿͆̈́̌̓͐̄̍̋̆͛͑̕͠ę̷̡͍̥͖̼̯̳͈̩͇͉̺̗͑̉̅̑̓̓̅̒͝͝͠ ̶̹̥̺̩̮̖̜̤͉̻̓̏̾̾́̅͛͊̎̓͂̒̄͘͝f̸̭̠͖̪͓̱̘͋ͅȍ̶̫͇̱̫̼̹̤̗̏̎̎̌̐̀̒͂̽̐̂̀̏̚ͅͅr̴̢͚̯̗͚͎̣͈͍͇̻̥̖̈̅́͂̽́̐̈́̊͜͜e̷̢͖̘̙̻̜͇̖̯͎̯̐͗̓͌̒̀̊͆̆̚͝š̷̡̛̠̱͌͂̑̎̅̋͛͘ţ̷͕͙͓̻̺͕͖̫͂̏̇̇͌͊͋̈̈́̇̃̈́̕͝͠ͅ.̷̨̩̥͖̖̜̖̩̖̱͚̲́́̈͋͋̈͑͌͝
̷̧̢̼̼̣̝͇̓̈́̒̃̐̋̃̃̈́͛̾͑͘̕͜Y̵̡̙̻͔͗́͂̒͗͌̌̀̑ȩ̵̛̖̭̪̮͔͎̗̈́̈́̽̽̿̑̀̈̔͐̈̔̕͠s̴̳̃͋̊̔͠!̸̛͉̮̬͇̞̮̱̾̀̐͒̔͆͐͆̂͘͝ͅ ̷̡̻͉̻͉̲̯͎̥͉̒̈́̀͆̄̄͂͆ͅŤ̸̢̢̨̡͚͇̯̗͔̙̲̺̱̥̇̈̿͋̿̈̈͌́̑ḩ̷̢̡͕̻̜͍̟̤̗̤͔̜͚̀͆̽e̸̛͉͍͙̻̲̰͈̩͗̍̈̈́̽͐̐͒͒̌͐͠͝ͅ ̷̧̗̟̩͚̝͗́͆̾͆͗̾̉͊̓̓̿̚͠ͅf̴̘̫͉͔͖̜̣͍͈͖̙̖͙͔̟̒͑̑́͊̀͛͘͘͘͘o̶̰̲͉̙̊̔̀͌̄͆̽͆͗̚͝ŗ̶̜̗̘̓̓́͘ȩ̶̜̰̪͔͔̞̮͓͇͍̹̳̼͆̀̒̃͋͌̀̃̿͘͝s̸̩͖̭̠̎̈̿̏̏̋͊̿́̚̕͝t̶͓͚̱̝̟̞͒̄̂͋́̈́̅̓͑́̽̔̋͊̄!̸̢̻̗͕̪̫̪̱͖̱͕̣̭̾̆̒̕
̴̭̫̥̪̲̀̒̀̈́͋̀̋͂̿̇̕̚T̷͙͙͙̟͕̭̺̗̦̻̈̆̆̇̐̓͝ͅh̵͈͈̖̫̀̊̽̿́̆͝ȩ̶̧͚͓̪̜͎͕̦̮̾̓̈̈́͆̀ ̴͇̯̖͎͌̆͑̇͠f̵̺̞̠͕̈̾̀͑͝ò̸̞͚͍͕̼͕̞̾̇̋̚r̸̛̛̺̜̞͈̽̏͌͒̀̈̚͠͝͠e̸̡̛̟̭̜̝͖͙̹̮͇̽̀͑̏͋̀͋͝ṡ̸̡̨̛̮̪̟̭̘̪͉͂̓̈̀̇̅͜t̸̙̻̠̤̬̭͕̤̊͛̍͑̿̀̋̅͛̔̌̊͘ ̴̻͍͔̻͚̻̮̩̰̥͎̤̈́̎͝h̵̘̖͈̝͎͈̟̠̦̮̮̻͕̒̎̇̕͝͝a̸͖͝ś̵̢̧̧̧̞̳͔̠̟̮̬͚̥̦̘̔̾͌̐͋̎̄̐̈͘͘ ̵̱̹̗̙͙̭̘̼̺̯̣͒̿ḅ̷̗͔̜̓̈̔͐̒̒̍͝ȩ̵̮̙͙̟̥͓͒͊͑́̋͋̇͘̕͠ͅḛ̷̩̦̝̞͙̤̣̯̭͇̤̼̾̓͠͝n̴̹̣̈́͗̆̆͒͛͋̇͝ ̴̧̮̙́̈b̸̡̧̮̥̥͕̱̗̺̤͓̈́͂̚̚͝l̶̛̪͂̀ȩ̴͍̖͉͓̼̭͔̮͈͇̪̔̆̇́̒̚s̷̛̯̯͚̹̈́̂͗s̷̛̜̦͓̝̭̗̉̈̾̉̃̓́͒͒̿̃̎̚͜͜͠ȩ̴̺̗̗̟͓͚̉̀̈́̓͝͠ͅd̸̯̻̝̤̻̙̪̘̠̩̫̪͆͊̆̒̑͠.̷̡͇͙̤͗̋͑̓́̽̽̾̍͑͊͝
̸̫̭̮̞̪̬̎̂̀̏̽̓͑̐͘͜͝I̴̢̛̻̜̗̥̹̪̙͕̫͎̰͋͋̂̎̇̆̄̑̐t̴̡͎̗̻̭͓̯̙̀̇̏̎̏͆̎̕͜ ̶̩̗̲͗̈́̊͋͐̉̑̂̐͐̐̈͠ͅḧ̵̹̰͉͇͓̲̘̋̈́̈́͑̒̔̈̋̀̈́a̸̩̫͙͊̽̂͑̔̚̚͠ś̸͚͆̂͊́̿̈́̔̾̇͂͘͝͝ ̶̛͙̥̯̔̋ḇ̶̢̯̫̱̟̮͕̲̬̘̝̝͐̕͠ͅe̴̢̛͖̦͚̝̗͕̬̰̿̈́́̈͌̈́̽͑ç̴̺̤̺̲̫̖̹̦͉̳̑̍o̶̡̟̻̝̦̼̱̳͒̚ṁ̴̧̮̣͎̠͍̻͜͝ḛ̸̡̮̱̃ ̷̢̠̹̪̞̱͉̜͚̒̄̆̈́̂̓̐̓̂̆͘̕͠f̸̙̝̱̙̬͕̘͌̓̽̔̒̓̇̑̇͘͜͠ẽ̴̗͕̪̭̖̺͖̻̙͇̝͎͆͂͜ŗ̴̧̛̮̤̞͉͔͔̜̈̉͗̽t̵̨̠͙̫͔͈̱̠͉̖̱̪̱̑́̂î̸͉͈̰̝͚̺̤̥͐̍̋͌ͅl̸̫̬̤̲̈́̓̇̉͐̉̊͛̆͗̇̚͘͘͠ͅę̸̹͖̲̟̳̜̬̖͕̃̍͛̒͝ ̷̺̺̌͊̇͌̽̅̇g̶̲̓́̎̂͋̅́̽̽͘͘͝ͅr̸̮̦̒͌͒̑̄͗́̏̎̓́͠͝ọ̸̢͕̞̙̘̳͓̫̑̍̒̄͌̎̋̏͂͂̕͘͘͜u̵̖̩̝̾̅͜͜ň̵͍͔̲̦͉̬̙̗̻̍̂̾͜d̵̨̡̢̳̟̻̩̬͇͂̽.̴̟̠̹̥̯̗̥̞̻͕̞̺͔̫̏͛̅̀̓̒̽̓̈̽͘
̸̢͚̩̤̖̟̬̪̟͙͑͌͂̈̐̋̌̽̑̔̀̂̈͘͝F̵̢̣̝̤́͝ö̷̧̡̠̬̦̝̥́̐́̂͗r̷͔͎͍͉̍́̏̎̋͗͑̒͋̄̒͋ ̶̧̡̭͖͍̗͈͊̒͑̀͆̒̄̄̂́̍̓͋̂m̶̧̭͖̜̗̰̞̀͆͠ǫ̷̞͎̬̭̜̍̽̓̉́̎͗̑͂͊͂r̶̢̨̢͔͍͍̟̣̣̭̱̂́͛͐e̷̙̪̣̤͔̟̼̲̙̼̻̦͌̍̂͂̌̃̅̀͑͋̒̆̿͠͝ ̸̜͉͕̥̬͎̯̱̤̞̌̒̋͆̏̂̊̿̆͋̚͘͜͜͝ǒ̸͉̠̹̬̫̮̜͓̉͝f̶̧͉̆̊͗̎̿͒̑̇̀́̚ ̵̖̯͇̻͋̇́̂͂́̍ụ̴̳̩̩̲̖̰̳̬̳͈̺̲̗̭͆̒̊̾͐͆̓̓̚͝s̷̢̖̺̞͔͉̲̠̝̑̈́̓͆̏̽͛̄͐̚͝.̵̻̗̲̥̪̦̹̍̽͊͋̉͋ͅ
Wait, the forest? As in, the forest where Akuma and Jelene were supposed to fight? Niran thought panickedly.
Y̶̦̹͓͚͍̙̱̜̍͒͋̉̏͌͒̚ḛ̴̤̮͍͎̈́͐͊s̴̢̯̮̻͆͛̂̍͋̏̉̂̽̈́̔̈́͜ͅ.̶̧̬̝̖̳̗͕̘̩̤̞̜̄͑̔̀
̵̪̩͎̙͇̝̠͈̻͈̆̐͜͝Ỷ̴̟̰̩̰̃̋̃͒̉̉́̐̃̃͂̚͜ö̷̡̯̼̙̞̫͍̗͔̼̣̩́̾́̀̅̿͑̿̎͐̀̈́̿̚̚ử̴̮̆͂̎́̄͊̈͂̀̽̚ ̸̡̡̛͔̫̣̬̰͚͕̲̼͇̌͒̊̑̇̿̀̍̒̉͘ȃ̶̡̯͙̋͂̍͆̈́̑̊r̷̢̧̧̟̦͕̹͓̮̟̗̝̝͋͛̾͋̂͆̅̃̄̉̍̽ẽ̸̢̢͖͓̞̰̥̪̖̦̃̿͜ͅ ̸̛̛̫̲̍̃̈͆̽̌̑̆̊͌̉̓̚c̶̢̙̙͚̱͍͓̺̐̑ơ̵̡̢̰͈͔͉̯͓͎̹̜̂͒̿̍̀̈́̔̄͐̿͋͘̚͝r̵̢̨̰̬͇͓͉̭͇͎͈̳͓͋̋̈́͆̾ŗ̶͚͔̺̪̬̰̃̈̈́̏̍͂͗̉̊͒̃̅̇̓ͅë̵͎̣͛͆̋͑͋͗̓͋c̴̨͉̫͓̱̠͍̓̉͜ţ̴̧̢͎̝͖͔͈̬̙͍̫̖͑͂́̾̌̽̽̓̿̕͜͠ͅ.̵̨͙̫͕̻̺̲͎̣̳̎͒́́̓̇̈́
̴̡̨̙̮̤̻̯͛̈̊́̉̈̀͝A̸͈͇̥͕͒͂͘͠ͅn̸̹̯̩̒͌̓̎́́͛͘̚d̴̨̨̹̀ ̵̧̣̾̍͑̐͒͛̓͂͛t̸̨̢͔̠̝̟̲͔͉̦̲̠̼́̂͆͆̒̓̚h̵̘̝̻̬̝̖̬̜̖̠̞̩͚̆́́̇͜͝ͅe̶̙̗̝͚̟͓̤̻̼͆̄̍̈̿̇̂͒͋̋͊̕̕͠y̸̢̡̧̧̲̜̻͉̬̫̥̑͆̓͒̓̿͊͋̇̕͜ ̴̩̬̬̙̠̗̪̘̦̠̫͈̤̥̲͌̾̽͒̅̅̓̀̓̚ẗ̸̟̅͂̐̑̐̑͠ö̸̢̭̙̲͕́̒́̊͐̿͌́̊͝ǫ̷̪̩͖͎̦̥̰̹̙͐̓̏̀̂̎̃̆̾̋͗̑͐̕͝ ̵̨̣̖͆̆̋͋̃́͑̐͂̉͘͝ẅ̸̺̦̘͕̫̥͔͇̲́̌͊͆́̋̈́̐͋ͅé̸̡̖͔̯̖̜̝͈͓͕̬̬̥̃̕̕͘ͅṛ̷̪̰͓̝̯̫̹͑͛̈́̑̂̓͒͗̂͒̍̇̾͠͝ẹ̷̘͌̄͆̌͆ ̷̢̳̙̳̮̤̳͂̎͌̏̓̀͑̏͒̊̏̆͜͝b̴̪̠̭̠̗͍̬̭̩̮̤̰̜͙͓̂͛̓l̴͚̪͔̳͖͇͋͐̓̎͊͑̆̄̊ĕ̸̛͍̂̉̃̆̈́̓͛͋̾̕͝͝ș̸̻͇̻̝̌̄̄̏͊͋̎̈́̓͒̈́͘͜ş̴͓̩̣͎̼̜̠͇̞̖̦̲̗͆̑̿́͌̚͠ͅę̴̨̞̼̻͎̦͕̫̣͚̓ͅd̸͉̰̀͂͒̈́̔͛̐͘͝͝ ̶̡͔̘̬̹̩̟͔͔͆̎̏̇͛̕̕͜͝͠͝b̵̧̡͓̻̼͇̭͙̹͖̙̬̰̠̔̄̉̀̓̇̈̔̊̓̀́̒ͅy̵͙͍̣͇̬̹̥͖͎̲͇͒̅́̐̆͜ ̶̢̧̨͖̞̮̭̙̜̲̮͈͖̯̯̓̐̏i̵͚̭̬͐͗́̾̉͐͂̓̒͋̊̽͘͝t̴̟̟̂͋͆̎͑̈́̕s̵̨̞̭̳̝͕̒̀̏̆̈͌̓̄͒̀͜ͅ ̸̧̦̥̭͇̖͉̟̰̦̌̀̿̈́ͅi̴̢̡̳͈̟̥̥̪͓̝̻̻̔̽̾͠ͅn̷̩̏̔̀͗̽̅f̶̞̭͚̚ļ̵͑͆̀̂u̸̦̿̾̚ȅ̸̳͈̜̥̟́̓͗͐̈͐̃̅̋͘͝n̶͍̘͕̺̭̾̆̒̽̓ͅç̸̨͙̦͉̞̪̫̖̺̳̬̓̃̏̋͂̐̌͊̀̓̀̃͆͠è̸̛̟̩̻̠͈͙̱͈̩͔͔͇̓͐͐̔́̋̈́̏̀̋͌.̶͙̗̉̓͆̓̈́̄̑̅͂̕͘͘
No… You can’t just corrupt them! They are so much more than mere pawns for your plans! Niran mentally exclaimed.
F̷̧̢͈̞̼̩̠̪͗̆͛̀͛͌͠͠r̴̥̙̝͔̟̯̙͒̋̈͒̓͋̃̀̔̀̅͊̊͠͝ͅė̴̬̬̤͉̠͙̺͈̟̟̎̐̔̑̕͝ͅẗ̶̰̝͖͖̖̟̬̜̹̻̬̳̟͓́ ̴̨̰͉͇̳̠̯̟͉̱̒̎͗̐̎͌̑͊̇̐̕͜͠ň̷̢̛̗̗̙̹̜̬͇̐̍̇̚ơ̸̻̖̜͎̱͙͓͈̈̓̇̑̿̚͝ţ̵͖̞̺̀̇̉̊̇̃͂͌́̄͆̂̕,̶̪̞̩̻̙͎͈̙̖̌̔͛͛̓͒͌̍̓̓́̋̚͜͝͝ ̵͈̋̔̎̈͋͊͋̎̔̂̉̚͜͝͝c̵̡͔̝͇͓̦̼̺̋̈̀̐͐́̈̀ͅͅh̷̠̫̞̪̝̬͇̹̬̱̹͗͐̑̆͌̇͂̐̕͜͝i̷̼̣͉̬̅̓̒̍̏̀̈ͅl̷̩͆̄͂͗̑̃̊͊̅̀̄̅͂͠ḑ̴̼̰̲͉̝͕̣̙̠̫̹̥̹̦͗͊̏̐͆͝.̴̢̛̖̮̬̫̲̪͓̿̈́̋̆̈́
̵͕̜̊̋̎Ṯ̴̡̢̢̢̙̭̗̻̟̟̦̘͔͗͗̄́͗̄̑̆̈́̈́̏͝ͅh̶̢̻͖͎͍͙̋̎̏͂͝ͅé̷̫̻͚̺̜̲͖̤̘͎͇̏͛̏̏͝͝ŷ̵̧̖̹̲̦̟̈́ ̵̧͙̥͈̹̺̼̱̫͔͙̗̳̿̾̒͆̀̿̾̌̐̀ḩ̶̜̼̙̖̲͙͔̼̥̱͇̈́͛̇̉͒̕͝a̷͖̼͔̖͌̈́̂̿̾́͗́̆̌̀̃v̶̧̭̰͈͉̔̈͗̓͐ȩ̸̛͔͇͕̥̍͂͆̈́̎̿̋̃͂̀̔͘͘ ̴͔͚͙͙̜͎̋͂̎̑̍́̎̽͒̾̓̇̄̚͘ͅb̴̧̮̺̜͙̥̳͕̃̔͋̿̓ͅe̸̫̒͗͂̽̑͜e̵̙̭͉͍͚͆̿̒n̴̨̛̛͈̐͆̎̏̊͛̾̀͒͠ ̵͎̙̈́̓̏͆̀̑̑̿͛͌̑m̵̢̟̻͙͇͙̈́͆̄͗̔͐͋̍̈́̀̏̾͋̀͘è̶̱̲̖̜̰͔̟̬̩̮͕̘͈̬̘͗̓͛͝r̷̨̨̫͔̖̜̘̭͇̝̬̈́͌̅̆͛͛̾͌̈̐͠ͅé̴̥͕̔͂̃͘̚͝l̶̨̖̣͚̯̮̺̙̲̠̳͍̰͙̱̉͑̍̽̾͋y̶̨̧̻͕̟̦̲̌ͅ ̴̳͓̥͇͈̎͒̀͒̒͑̌̌͆͑̈ţ̵̨̨͇͚̦̖̹͈͙͔̇́̓̑͗͆́̌̈͛̿͘͜o̵̧̥͓̫͇̠̙͇̙͔̠̅̾̂̈́͂̑̕͘ű̴̢̡̡͉͉͓̳͍͕͙̦̹͜c̴̙̥̱͓͋̅̃̎̽̈̂̈́͌̚̕ḩ̶̨̛͔͓̗̹͔̥͚̱̥̜̯̓͐̄͐͗̓ȅ̴͔̍̈ḑ̵̧̺̻̯̼̣̠̱͍̯͔͔̉͑̑̕͜ͅ ̸̛̳̇͗̈́̅̃̍͊̎̎͝b̷̧͚̩̔͐̀͗͆y̸̡̧̛̮̗͖̬̰̗̬̻̦̣͕̟̌͋̃̏̓̄͐̕͜ ̸̨̤͔̩̩̣͇̗̖͖͓͊͋̀̓̄̓̔̋́͒̀͛͜͠͝ͅͅi̷̫̝͍̭̝̹̋͘ṱ̸̖̀͋̾͌s̵͎̗̫̭͍͇͈̔̓̑ͅ ̷̫̞̜̭̻̩̜̺͍̉͋̂̂̓̈́́̔̇̃̽̾̀͝p̸̡̤̰̣̥͙͚͉̜̅̍̉̈́̓̿͂̔͜͝r̸̡̛̙̖̠̐͊̇̀̋̈́̊̽̔͆̕ͅe̷̢͚̹͙͝ś̸̝̩͎͓̻̙̺͉͈̔̔̋̈́͒͒̂̕͝͝͝ȩ̷̝̱̹͉̻̻̭̪̙̪̳̗̈́̓̈́̈́̚̚͜ņ̶̬̓̈́͂́͗̓̎̑̀̈́̉̌͝c̵̞̗͙̱̗̱̤͇̘̀̍̊̈́͑̏̂̅̃̀͊̈ȅ̶̯͚̰̯̮̳̄̊͐̐̓̒̌͘͠ͅ.̴̡̛̛̳͙͚̥͔͎͇̜̞͙̿̆
̶̧̪̪͓̳̘̹̗͗T̵̻̫̮͌h̷̡̺̬̳͕̬̞̰͉̹̬̯̃͑̈́̏̒ē̵̛͖̝͈̫̈́͐͌͂͂͊̾͘ͅy̴̢̧̰̙̫̹͕̺͉͍͎̟̙̋͊͋̾̓͝ ̵̙̫̱̅́̑̈́̐̏̉̿͛̈́a̷͈̗̣̱̾̽̀̅̏͝r̴͔̗̩̪̿̋̀͘é̵͍̼͖̦̥̣͍̗̗͓͕͕̽̄̀̊̇̾͝ ̵̡̘̪́̒͛͑̈́s̸̛̹̦̰̅͐̋̉̀̆͛̏̇̊͜͝i̴̙̳͂͋̆̅͐̓͋̓̓͒̆̅͊̐̚ṃ̶̝͉̓̎́̊̌̆͛̍͂̏̿͊̐̓͜p̸̛̹̬̿̉̾͋̑̆͐̓̋̊͊͝l̴̡̝͚͇̪̰̞͇̹̜̰̆y̷̟̪͍̜̠̠̪̞͚̳͂̍̌̐̈́̽͊̌̅͊͘̕͠ ̵̨̠̤̝̞̞̟̰̪͒ň̷̡̢̟͕̫ͅơ̷̢̛̟̇̀͑͜t̶̨̨͖̳̗̩̝̳̲̯̰̙̜͔̋̌̚ ̸̨̫̞̖͖̙̬̼͂͘r̷̢̛̥͚̹̳̗̯̖̱̗̭͎͋̍̅́̄̎̽͗͑̾̒̇͑̕ȅ̸̖̟̎̿̈͐̆̔͝ą̶̭͈̥̤͈̰̘̦̻̟̳̦̺̊́̑̓̍̃͂͝͠d̵̥̱͛͗̅͋̅̈́̋́̏͊̓̍̚͜y̷̯̗͕͔̩̗̯̝͍̋͊̽͆͒̈̐͛.̵̢̟͖̙̰̣̙̼̭̜̞̫̈́̓͑̆̑͂͒̄̄̕
̸̭̇̔̈́̍̓̐͂̒́̾F̶̡͇̞̭̯͈̳̲̻̻͙̂̇͌̈́̉̅̆̔̎ö̶̢̤̱̦͙͎͕͍̬̳̓͆́ͅr̴̗̭̰̙̟͇̜͍͛̍̐́͛͒̌͊̋͌̓͝ ̸͖͖̗̈́̑̅͊̂̎̓͂̕t̶̡͓̼͔̲̣͙͈̼̤̱̟͎͗̾͐̓̍͜͝͠ͅh̵̨͓͖̳͕̝̰̫̗͍̱̦͇͈͚̊̑̃͂̓̃̋̎̂̿͊͘͘ę̴̨͚̦͖͚̭͖̞͑̈́̀͐͑͌̒̀̓̚̚͜ ̸̡̧͉́͋͆͂̊̽̿̑̓͑̈́̈͘p̸̢̨͇̤̰͕͇̳̘͙̙̫̜͈̔̅̍̅͘̚͝ǫ̸͙̠̮̱͂̅̋͑̀̑̅̎̍̂͊̈́͝͝͠w̴͔̤͔̹̃̀́̉̊͂̾ë̵̛̩̹̘̝̟̼͕͎̻̫̮̞́͒̔͛̀̐̿̿̆̑̚͝ŗ̵̛͇͙͚͕̫̹̹͊ ̵̗̰͓͈̪̯̹͆̿̈́̏͒͛̋̒̐̚͜͠W̴̛̗̮̜̋̑͠E̷̲͑̽͂͒̏̊͌͝ ̵̧̱̫̊̊͒́͛̕͠͠͝c̶̢̡̢̨͔͎̪̦͙͖̠̣͚͊̅̊̀ą̴̟̰̺͍̤͎͉̲̩̿̊͑̿̾̑́͋̋̔͐̕̕͝͠ņ̸̥̰̥͇̺̣͛̈̉̐̈́̋̂͠͠ ̶̧̝̙̖̟̮͓̺̭̯̦̩͍̹̆́̓̾͛̍̿͆̀̚͝͝g̷̡̠̹̬̰͉̱͍͖̠̜̺̯̝̋̆̋͋̄̋̀̅̐̿̏̊͝͠ͅi̷̢̡̨̖̙̹͍̻͙̱͑̊̄͑̐̈́͗̔̅̓̽̓́̈́͌ͅv̵̢̧̬͈͕̲̟͇̲̑͋̂e̶̻̖̘̺͈̦̬̾̈́̽͋̔͜ ̶̛̜͕̙̱̠͇̘̙̹̜͜t̷̟͚̤̫̟͇̪̞̚͝ḧ̴̨̧̳͈̰̱͙́͂̉͗̎̇͝͠ë̸̡̨̧̞̰̥͍͍̼͎͍̠̲̼́̓̋̀͒͗́͛̈́̓̄͒̕m̵̳͉̰̳͓̬̘̫̼̯͇̻͙̈́̑͌́̊͒͛̒͌͛̍̃̌̚͝.̷̲͙̀̓̋̿̋̒̉̃̽̎̂͆̅̇̌
We??? What do you mean, ‘we’? Niran asked, confused by the voice’s statement.
Ṕ̸̡̘̼̣̲̫̫͔̻͍̺̍̇̑̌͊̎́̀̂̊͂͗͜͜͝ę̴̨̫͖͛r̶̙͉̼̦͍͎̩̫̝̰͓͚̣̀͜͠h̴̛̝͗̓́̑̈̿̆͛͊͂̚͜͝a̸̧̡̻͕̙͈̹̱̝̟̅̓̇̊̍̆͜͝ṕ̴͙̖̉̎̑̔̏̋͆́̔͆̔͠s̶̺͙̦͇̣̳̜̞͓̣̱̾ͅ.̶̛̞̞͍̜͊̃̑̐͊͒͑.̶͈̩̠̔͋̅̃́́́̇̄̔͑͒..
̵̡͖̟̰̬̟̯̘̰̟̱̻̯͆͋A̷̧̧̲̬͔̠͆̍̆͐̊̈́͐͌͋̋͐̊̂̌͘ ̵̮̎͒̄̌͆̈́̆͐͂͐͆͛̚͜͠͝ḋ̵͉̤͖̒̍̾̓́̋̀͒͘e̸̪̦͋̍͊͌͝m̷̧̢̧̯̯̗̟͙̞̪͎̰͖̠̌̉o̶̼͚̭̳̳͉̍͒̈́̃̇̽̾̂̇͘͝n̶̠̣̻̒̕̕s̸̡̖̺͔̪̥̦̻͕̯̹̦͖̈́̀̄̆̀͒͂͌͛̅͘͘͜͝t̴̢̧̨̞̱̙̙͔̗͖̱̜͕̪̓̊̍̃̄̊̃̈́̿̚͝͝ř̵͉̻̦̟̞͂̌͌̚ͅȃ̴͖̳̭̖͚̱̠̻͓̗͙̮̥̿̎t̶̢̧̢̡̺̮͉̣̥̗͓̱́̋̾̌̀̈́̂͑i̵̢̞̳̱̮̙̙̳͓̟̰͑̋̍͌́͋̉͝o̸̲̟͕̹̲͖̺͛̑͛͌͛̉̿̀͌́̾̇͘̚͠n̶̜͙̖̖̭̙̝̬̠̪̱̏̏̾̃̊̿̐͐͌̿̈́͋̔͜͠͠ͅͅ ̷̼͗̊̽̓̾̏̃́̇͜͠w̵̧̛̲̜͈̼͙̪̥̝̞̺̺̓̈́̀͘͜i̵̲̘͔̝͎͈͍̺̫̱͈̙̅̓l̸̡̩͔̙̹̑͛͂̾͑͗͆͋̇͝l̴̝̱̘͓̙̭͛̃́̒͗̅͐̄̋̅͌͘͝͠ ̶͈͉͆͛̀̇̃̂͊͝e̶̡̖͇̎̓̐̑͊̎̔̄͠ņ̴̬̖̻̜̱̙̼̻̬̮͛̈́̈́̒̋̃͌͊͝͠͝l̵̡̦͈͖͒̓͑̍̽̎̓̿͑̓͑͛̂ͅį̷̖̭̳͔̜̬̦͚̼͇̫̣̜̋͑͂͑g̴͚̐̍̈́̈́͆͂̽̚ḩ̶̢̢̮̯̣̳̫̙̬͙̰̤͑͑̄̃́̊̂̏̅ẗ̵̪́̾̕͝ḛ̸̢̡̙̪̩̝͓͔̥̠̩̣̱̑̉ñ̶̲̳̮̫̪͉̝͓͉̲̔̚ ̸̢̠̻̦̞̳͚̯̓̏̽̀̄̔̊̀̈́͠ỵ̸̢̺͙͉͍̪̞̔̍́͌͘͜o̶͉͆̆̓͒̽̍̅̈̀̐͘ų̷̻̦͉͚͎̭̮̻̬͗͐̀̇̔͐͛̓̏͊̍͜͝.
̷̟̟͉̺̯͇̹̯̜͖͌̓̎̕͝͝L̵̛̮̳͍̲̗̅͛̔͒͝e̷̡̳͚͇̞̽̓̍̌͒̏͠͠ą̶̬̬͖̥̎͑͊̅̓͝v̶̧̛̟̣͎̘̭̠̻͎̱̺̾́̽͋̍̚e̸̗̞̬̤͉͈̙͂͗̀̿͊̓̒͊̔̚͜ ̴̯̟̬̘̲̟̥̬͙̜͎̯̻̻̩̈́̍̍͂̉̀̑̐͆̓̆͂͐̓ţ̴̪̤̲̤̹͙͍̙̭̻̻̙̅̚͜ͅh̴̜͙̞͈͓̜̟̬̄̓͆̾̓͛͌̾̔͊̄͜͜͝͝į̸̲͈̫̹̲͉̥̲̼̽́̏ͅş̸̹͓͈͉̺̞̟̼̞̰͗̔̓̌̈̈́̌̏͐͌͒̔͘͜͝ ̸̡̛̥͍͈͓̗̥̳̼̋͑͛p̸̧̡̥̒̅̇̒̋̾͆̊̀̓͗͊̐̕͘͜l̷͓̞̭͉̙͑͋̌̅̀̕ą̷̧̯̬͇̻̜͎̠͋̒̔̀̀̔͒͐͊͜͝ͅͅͅç̷̢̢̯͖̫̞̗̺̲̾̍̅̍̈́̓̄͋ȩ̴̳͓͇̝̳͈̮̤̣̿͐̈́̌̒͗̉̍̀͋̓̕͠.
̵̢̺͖̠̘͉͎̝̂͂͜G̴̨̥̠̰̩̠̳̦̽̃̏̋̌̽̏͋̉͌̈́̏̅̏̈́ǫ̶̛̛̲̦͕̘̼͔̬̤̫͌͒̍̾͒͋̒̑̏̓̃̄͘ ̴̧̭̻̪̉̀̃̈́̈́̉͑̀̕͘͝ẗ̴̢̧͎͕̠̤̤̪́̑̋͐̏̌̓͛ŏ̵̫͆̓͋̇̐̄͊̃̚͘͝ ̷̢̢̛̱͕͖̩͚̟̣͙͗̂́̉̄͛̈́ͅt̶̨̖̱̮͍̪̞̠̹̳̬̯́͑͆̽̍̾̌͝h̸̛̝̦̝͈̺͙̰̪̋ẹ̵̡̛̼̟̮̜͎͎̦̘͔̦̒̉̿̄̅́̾͌͐͋͘̚͜ ̴̛͖͇͚͆͐̋̉̀̎͘͠f̵̢̢͚͎͎̣̎̈́̓̐̋̈́ọ̷̢͖͓̪̿͂͑͒̂̊͛͘̕͝͝r̷̛̛̤͉͙͌̐̔̈̎̀͐̓̂̄e̵̛͓̪̯̮̺̟͎͍̤̣͎̻̜̮͆͂̄̓͑̀̈́́́͝͝ś̵̡̨̘̙̝̺͇̬̬̫͕̘̻̮̮̋̔͑̍̈̇̉͊̂̓̾͠͝ţ̶̙̤̯̦̥̱͇̞͍̥͈͚̲͂̂͋̚͜͝.
̵̨̞̫̻͎̫̱̔̍̄̀͊̿̕N̷̡̛͙̗͖̟̟͙͈̹̳͔̰͛̈́̑̃̆͛̽͜ò̷̟̂͂͗͒̓̽͆͐̿͊͂̍́w̷̨̧̻̺̖͈̬͙̭̘̲̳̰͙͖͛́͊͒̐̈͊̃͒͠.
Niran attempted to refuse the voice’s order, but was entranced as abyssal energies leaked from her violin. The tendrils of energy pointed in a specific direction, leading to an exit she did not see before. Slowly, Niran walked step by step, following the abyssal energy.
Y̶̧̙͎̩̥̪͋͛͊̃̓͋̐͛̐e̸̠͔̯̙͚̬̚͘s̸̜̟̝̠͕̺̈́̑̋̓̂̒̎̈͝͝.̸̘͂́̅̏̉̀̊̈́̀̾
̷̭̤͓̠͒ͅY̵̨̭̘̻̲̳̫̲͑̏̾̏͝E̶̢̥̥͇͕̮̖̹̊̇̿̉̈́̓̎̈Ṣ̷̘̹̀̀̑̈̀͒͑̔̎͌͊̓͘͝.̷̡̝͓̘̲͛̽͊̊͐̚͘
̷̡̢̊̄͐Ṡ̷̱͔͇͓̬͊Ö̵̧̗͙͈̱͇͓͌̋̽̀̚͠ͅỎ̸̞̻̏̈̅͒̒̋̌͘N̷̨̡̫̟̰͚̲͙͐̋̀̈́̓̍́̔̂̀͝͝͝ͅ ̵͕̹̀̆͌Ẁ̶̢̡̭͓̠̬̞̼̥̚E̷͓͊́̽̍̋̀͝͠ ̶̢̝͉͔̺̙͇͉̰͍̲͈̤͖̐̌́͂̈͑̉̉̇͂̒͊͒̽̒S̴̛͙̘͑͆̅͑̉͌͐̋͗̂̒̀͆̚H̴̥͕͙̳̺͈̜͗̽À̴̰̻̺L̷̹̈́͌L̸̠̟̣̞͋̆̊͗͛̅̽͘͘͝͝ͅ ̷̨̛̛͕̱͔͍̯͚̱̖̱̩̗̥͓̐̔̌͊͐̓̒̈́̎̕͠P̷̡̗̩̣͔̤͈̠̣͉̳̭̱̒̃̎͐̓L̶̛̞͇͕̦͉͙̭̉̍́A̴̙̓̅̍̑̋͝N̶͎͓͔͇̹͕̭̫̺̘̻̯̱̄̿̋̕T̷̡̨̧̼̘̣͓̮̱̥̾͒̓̀̂͒͊ ̶͖͉̮̪̝͎͉̬̞̯̮̤̪͌̃T̵͈̪͚̈́͗̉̽̌̆̌̏͑͜͝Ȟ̸̡̫̰̬̰̦͇̤͕̈́̍̓̒͗̄̀̉͠E̴̳̩̺̻̺͉̩̞͕̻̒̉̅̽͐͒͛̄̑̃́͝͝ ̷̢̛͚͙̞͎̥͈͓̯̞̮͔̫̩̂̈̃̉͒̆̒̑̇̍̐̉̔͘S̷̡̢̪̙̫̺͉̺̮̫̑͛̀̈̅͒Ȩ̴̝͉͇̤̻͖̖̾̀̾͋̑̽̽̀̄̽̊́̄͘͝Ę̴̦̹͇̜̤̫̤̣̌̈̽̒̆̋̒̀Ḑ̶̼̯̯͚̘̋͛̐S̷̢̱̟̖̙̱͓͓̰̲̻͚̫̹̓́̒̉̄̃͐̍̃͗̃͑͒̏͜͠ ̷̗̝͔̓̈O̸̧͎̭͙̱͖͈̠̟̾̈́̏̈́͌̇̂̈́̄̄̓̕F̴̞̱͕̦͔̭͇͎̒̈́̀͂͊̽̂̈͌̊̋̊͜͝͝ ̶̨̛̜̹̗̣͖̘̱͙̣̍͗̇̀̌̈́͒̍̽F̴͚̝͔͔̅͑̏͂̈́͒͘A̶̤̦̲͉͓̻͍͉͉͖͎͈̍̍̐̅̾̃̕͝T̴̨̤͉͙̲̙̙̰̬̓̿Ȩ̷̜̽̆̆̔̂̐̐̓͛̎ ̴̧̧̭͎͙͕̝̗͖̻̫̮̆̿̃̌͑̀A̷̹̝͍͔̳͎͑̔͛̑̅̀̉̏̀͑̑͐̃̃̕N̵̞̹̝̘̜̂̔͛̈́̈̌͛̐͊̄̀͝͝͝D̶̘͇̙̙̞̞̟̖̋̈̐̾̊̾̌̋̔͛̋͝͠ ̸̢̛͇͙̝̹͖͙͌̒͊̋͂͆͆̈́̊̾̎̉̑͜Ŗ̸̼̗̙̝͕̠̘̯̹͖͛̄̾͆͛̐̃͒̆͠Ë̵̛͎̗̣̦̙͖͙̺͕͑̊Ļ̸̨̜̮̟̤̫̖̗͓̬̙̱͍̭̈́̂̅̐E̵̢͇̮̦͚̲̱̹̥̺͛͐̋͋͒̄A̶̢̡̧̪̖̗͓̩̗̝̮͗͐̾̈͑̊̓͐͐͆S̷̡͖̙̻̞̮̉̈́̑̐͜͝É̸͇̖̪͙̇͊̉̂́̎͘ ̸̩̗̟͈̐̾̆̾̓̀̈́̉̂̽͐͐̚̚̕ͅT̵͔͈͗Ḩ̸̛̱̤͈̠͎̼͚͓̤͔̭̱̑͐̍̀̐̀͌̓̈͗͘͘͜͜͝E̶̼͇̭̳̜͙̽̓̅̓͐́̉̔̕ ̶̢̪̰͇̖̳̝̣͈̝̯̣͉̈́͋̌̓̿͊̍̒̑͛̊͊̃̇ͅͅW̵̨͚̲̺̞̹̜̮̩̭͍̝̃͜͜ͅƠ̸̡̠̤͉̠̙͓̂͒́͘R̵̤͋͗͌͆͘͠Ḷ̵͓̭͓̭̙͂̅̂̾̌͠͝D̴̪̉̐͂̈ ̷̡͕̼́̉͊̈́̀͂̃̍̋͘̚F̸̱͈̣͓̓̀͆̕̚Ŗ̶͇͍͉̣̳̜͖̪̲̾̾̀̈͑̎̆̔̀̓͂͠͠͝O̸͓̹͕̲̟̅̅̉̾̂̅̍̔̽͊͝͝M̶̤͓̼̼̰̳̗̟͋̋̎̂͒̉̈́͒͆͆͌͝ ̴̢̹̦͚̆̒̿͋̆͒͒̓͊͊̂͘͜D̶̨̞͔͓̦̟͓̺̻̪̙̭̾͒͐͛͗̋Ȩ̶̠͚̞̹͈̻͓̾̀̈́͒̓̂͝S̴̡͈̞͙͍̰̞̺͚̠̗̗̠͐͑̿̈́̌̚̕P̸̢̨̢̢̖̹̙̬̥̳̩̕ͅ—̵̡̤͖̯͈̝͙̜̳͔͉̜͆̔̽̍͑̾̀̓̏͒̔
A̵̛͇̥͋̃̈́̓̑̓͛̊̾̅H̷̡̤͔̹̞̮̬̭̻̞̩́̄̑͝H̸̡͉͇̺̗͉̫̪̝͇͗͛͛̍̿́̄͐͒̓H̸̡͕͈̟̘͓͖̖͍̝͇̠͈͗̍͐̈͛̔̊̅̾̓͊́̽̓̚H̸̞̣̖͇͗H̴̺̣͍̲̊̎̀Ĥ̸̨̡̢̞̯̙̣̮̬̫͈͌͑̓̾̀͐̓̈͘͝͠H̷̛̤̫͉̯͎̮̩̘͇̲̱͖͎́̓̿͌̃̽̈́̎̃́̊͗̚͜͝Ḩ̵̠̾̈́͌̀̈́͗̃̈́̔̎̌̏̏͂͘Ḩ̶̙̱͙̑̇̅̒͆͝H̸̝͚̠̮̮̍͊́̋̂H̶̩̫̋H̷̹̾Ḩ̶̭͇̺̽̇̾̍̆̌̾̇͘͝!̴̧̠̲̝͔̭̦̲͎̘̙̫̘̺̉̽̀̀̌͂͝͝
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Niran’s journey to the enticing exit was cut short as jolting pain ran through her body, her magic being torn away from her. She fell to the ground, panting and wheezing as she desperately gasped for air. She felt a cold hand place itself on her shoulder, forcibly turning her around to face the one responsible for her pain.
“Where do you think you are going?” Behind Niran was Cirrina, her lips curled into a cruel smile. “Get up. While I would prefer to watch you grovel on the ground like that, I have a lesson to teach you.” With a swift motion, Niran was lifted up from the ground and pulled back toward the center of the courtyard. She stumbled as the two reached their destination.
“Cain was foolish letting his errand boy see you. You’ve grown soft. In fact, I almost pity you for what you’ll have to endure this lesson. Almost,” Cirrina spat viciously, the semblances of spite forming on her face. “Now, your task is quite simple! All you have to do is summon a denizen of the Abyss.”
Niran felt an overwhelming sense of dread, that making even tiniest of mistakes would have the direst of consequences, but suppressed through a single deep breath right before playing her violin. A twisted magic formed around Niran, before condensing it into a spectral phantom. The phantom looked at Niran, waiting for instructions.
“...Idiot,” With a simple twist of her trinket, Cirrina tore more of Niran’s magic away, causing her to lose concentration from the pain and dissipating the spirit. “I asked for a denizen of the Abyss! Not a mere apparition.
“Again.”
Niran regained her composure, but as soon she was about to play, she hesitated. She had no clue how to summon a physical manifestation of the Abyss. But simply trying again would likely prove to be just as futile and painful as before. Instead, Niran peered into the depths of her mind, searching for a solution. Images that once intruded Niran’s mind remained absent as adrenaline focused her will. But she did not see darkness within. She saw two souls, one much larger than the other, drift about in a sea of nothing. Niran soon realized that the nothingness around those souls was alive. It writhed endlessly, fruitlessly attempting to breach the souls’ outer shells so that it could exist.
B̸̨̪̰͚͈̪͓̮͙̲͐͂͠ṙ̷̨̤̲̞̝̬̏̓̊͂̆̐̓̒̽̚̚͠e̸̢̫͆̅̔̔̄̎̈́͋̈́͑͐̾a̷̪̗̙͖͔͇̾̈́̋̆̇̆̐̉̊̌̋̏k̸͙̗̊̇.̸̨̛̟̹͈̮͐̋͌͝͠
̴̼̱̞̈́̃̇͆̉̄̀̅̿͝B̵̛̦̜͙͒̈̚r̷̨̜̖̹̥̪̥̋̍͐͛͋͋̉́̅̕͝͠ę̶̫͓̦̍̄̃̉̀͆͑̊̾̉̄̒̇͐͜͝a̷̧̡̛͙̲̱͖̹̙̟̭͇͖̯͇͋̔̒̓́̓͆̃͌̓̓̈͝k̶̯̠̻̤͍̜͔̝̾̊̅͗̔͂͛͗͒̕ ̵̧̤̠̫̯̞̰̟͚͉̲̮͛̂͂̑͊̓́͝͝t̶̡̧̺̱͎͇̞̝̱̖̦͚͗͂̍̾̑͜h̵̦̼̫̣͓͔̝̻̞̮̱̫̹̬̏̐̅͐̉̉̆́̀́̐̊͐͠e̶̡̹͈̬͖̱͚͖͓̔͑̚͝ ̶̧̟̩̯̲̗͔̱̮̻̺̌̾̒͜s̸̬̣̠̱̦̫̟̳̪̝̲̊́̀̐̀̅́͒̉̑̚͝͝͝o̸̬̦͓̘̦͆͋̐̂̈́͑̈͝ǘ̵̥̺͕̺̃̏̑͂͆̄̕͝l̶̢̼͚̺̗̱̊̿̈̀́͊̿̒.
̸̛͕͉̙̞͕͂̄͊̀͗̀̋̕͝Ļ̴̣̮̞̥͕̗͍̜͇̪͈̫͍̀ȩ̴̡̧͉̯̝̼̑͠t̵̪̥̞͒̓͒͠ ̴̡̡̟̮̩̩̞̭͉̻̬̻̼̻̝̐̿͑͛̏͋̉̈́̆n̸̨̛̪͈̙̭̖̻͙͕̪̩͕̞̈͐̃̔͗͗̏͋͘ǫ̸̰̩̝͔͉̜̣̼̘̱̭̠͗͆̔̆͌̈͛͜͝ẗ̸̟͎̻́̄̚h̵̢͓͍̯̝̬̘̖̪̝̳̯̪̾ỉ̴̙͓͕̼̻̄͑͐́̈́͐̒͛͗̓́͝n̴̛̯ĝ̶̨͇̣͉̬͎̮̼͕̇̔̚n̴̛̲̉͒̄̿̆̊̆́̐̏̽͘e̶͕͈͠s̵̡͓̼̮̬̹̙͇̤̞̬̰̩̒̄̓͊̒ş̶͔̿͒̈́̾̏́̐͑̾̕ ̵̡̨͓̜̙̞͇̜̱̣̋̎͗̄͑̆̾̅͌̓̚͜͝͝r̸̘̦̔̆͛̋̓̎ę̸̜͚̻͉̜͕͇̤̦͐̊͛̓͋̾͆̽̿̈́i̸̧̘̹̼̱̼̥͓̞͓̎͜g̷̦̳̣̍́͊ͅn̸̢̮̙̙͖̫̤̍̐̊ ̴̰͚̹͖͚̯̗̹͕͑̎͛͌̍͒̑͒͆̿̌͘s̶̢̛̼̙̭͆̋͑̐͂̐̓̌̊͜͠ȕ̷̧͉̠̼͍̹̙͇̖̥̳͍̭͖̥͒́̈̒̚p̷͙͐̉̉̓̀̈́̑̾̍̆͝r̵̢͉̹̗̦̎͗͊̆̏̎͐̄͐͘͜ȇ̶͉͈̘̲̝̜̫̩̱̗̫̩̦̙̀̀͊͑̃͛͝͝͠͝m̶̨̡̧̡̛̼̟̭͓̪̼̜̯͝è̵̗͔͕̱̳̻͍̥̮̲̉̈́̊̀̾̀͂͒̆͠.
Niran played once more, but instead of forming the energies into a spirit, it manifested itself as a spear, which then entered straight into Niran’s head. It was surprisingly painless, as the spear effortlessly traversed through the inside of Niran’s body, all the way to the depths of her mind. She could see the spear floating through the nothingness, eager to strike the nearby souls. Poking and prodding the smaller soul with the spear, Niran realized that she would have to strike with full force in order to break through the soul’s tough carapace. She took a small breath, preparing to thrust her spear into her target…
Twang.
...And missed, instead penetrating the larger soul. Niran gasped as she watched the nothingness invade the soul, warping it from the inside out until it no longer resembled one. It then flew out of the murky depths, passing through Niran’s body and ejecting itself out of her violin. The former soul began to manifest a physical body of its own, much to Cirrina’s interest… and Niran’s horror.
“G-Gr-Graagdord?”
The being that came into existence took upon a form of a small goblin, yet it had various deformities. It was covered in greenish carapace, with numerous spikes protruding from its back. Its hands were formed into claws, while its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. And its eyes. Oh its eyes. What had once been filled with a fiery passion and ambition were now cold and dead. They were sunken and hollow, receding far back into the creature’s head. What stood in front of Niran was not Graagdord.
It was a monster.
“Graagdord! I know you’re in there! Please, just come out! You have to be in there…” Niran grabbed “Graagdord” by the hands, desperately pleading for him to return, to wake up and tell her everything would be alright. Her pleas were left unheard.
“Wow, I am certainly impressed that you learned so quickly. I was expecting to be able to… “shock” you a few more times,” Cirrina said, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “But alas, the lesson is over. Time to say farewell, Niran… Niran?”
“Wake up Graagdord, I know you can do i—AHHHHHHHH!!!” Niran’s pleas were cut short as jolts of pain coursed through her body again. She looked toward Cirrina, who’s smile was replaced with a furious scowl.
“I will not be ignored. Do. You. Understand?” Cirrina growled. Niran said nothing, angering Cirrina only further. She twisted the trinket again, but Niran grit her teeth as the pain hit her.
“You know, this reminds me of a certain when you were rude to me in the past. You humiliated me in front of all those people by making me crash in that cart full of melons! I even had to pay for the damages you made me cause. How can I simply let that slide?” Cirrina continued to twist the trinket even further, increasing the pain by twofold. Then threefold. Then fivefold. Then tenfold. Niran grit her teeth for as long as she could, but she could no longer withstand it. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, all the while Cirrina laughed maniacally.
“What are you doing Cirrina!? You’re going to kill her!” Suddenly the pain disappeared as a cloaked figure entered the courtyard followed by a few servants, clearly distressed. Niran collapsed to the ground, barely able to keep her eyes open. Cirrina turned to look at the visitor, and all traces of sadistic glee was replaced with fear.
“I-I was just punishing her accordingly, Malkhan, like the Pontiff said to do if she misbehaves!” She stammered.
“You imbecile! We need Niran ALIVE! And don't even try to hide the fact you were completing your own agenda. You wouldn’t have punished her so thoroughly if you only had the Pontiff’s goals in mind!”
“Of course I wasn’t completing my own agenda! I only live to serve his desires!” Cirrina blatantly lied. Malkhan was unamused.
“Tell that straight to his face then. I’m sure he’d believe your perfectly acceptable story,” Without warning, Malkhan grabbed Cirrina’s arms, and swiftly exited the courtyard, pulling her along for the ride. Before he was out of sight, Malkhan turned to the servants. “You. Dispose of the akon while it remains dormant. It will not stay pacified for long. And you. Bring Niran to her room. Make sure that she does not die. If either of you fail, your lives will be taken as punishment.” Not needing any more encouragement, the servants went to work.
Niran could feel herself being carefully picked up as if she was porcelain. She slowly turned her head towards where “Graagdord” stood, and saw a servant pull out a small dagger. As the servant went to attack, Niran could no longer keep her eyes open. She slowly lost consciousness, dipping further and further, until she was deep in the abyss of her own mind.
(To be continued)
Akuma ran towards it, but with each step, the rain grew more heavy, and as the water level rose, the grass did as well, pulling at her legs and trying to drown her. She shoved through the grass and water in her fervent quest to get to the door, and she mad it just in time, as the water reached her neck. She opened the door inward and stumbled through.
She pushed through the door and came out onto the roof of her lodgings. The rain and grass disappeared behind her, as did the door. Akuma looked up, and the moon filled her view, taking up the sky, blotting out the stars.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Akuma looked over to see Nilani standing a meter to her left, also gazing in awe at the moon. Akuma's face lit up in a grin, and she jumped toward her friend, catching her in a hug. Nilani gasped, and Akuma looked down as she felt something cold on her hand.
Naku Tsuki was in her hand, blade run through Nilani's gut up to the tsuba. Inky black blood poured from the wound, seeping into Akuma's skin, but not touching the ground. She immediately pulled the sword out with a cry of dismay, and ran toward her friend.
But as she tried to get closer, the roof seemingly stretched out before her, every step taking her further. She had to choice but to watch as Nilani held a hand to her wound, before staggering backward, dangerously close to the edge of the roof.
Akuma tried to scream, but no sound came out. Nilani took another step back, doubling over, and her foot slipped, causing her to tumble off the roof. Akuma screamed again, but she could only hear it inside her own head. Her vision went dark as the roof seemingly stretched out endlessly before her.
Akuma started awake in a forest. The forest. She looked down at her hands. Nilani's black blood still covered them, and as she watched, it started to flow up her arms, carrying with it a chill unlike anything Akuma had felt before. Suddenly, Jelene dropped down from a tree, except it wasn't Jelene. She wore the face of the captain Akuma had slaughtered, all those years ago. She ran forward, swinging her swords in a vicious arc.
Akuma went to block, but Naku Tsuki crumbled to dust in her hands. She turned to run and the black blood crept up her neck. Jelene outran her, knocking her to the ground and digging a foot into her chest. Akuma tried to escape, but Kuroichi pierced her chest, coming out the other side and digging into the forest floor. Akuma tried to cry out in pain, but the black blood flooded her mouth, flowing into her lungs. Shirohane was next, causing another immense bout of pain, and another attempt at crying out.
The black blood reached her eyes, and Akuma's last sight was the sneering face of the only human she had ever killed.
Drip... Drip... Drip
Akuma woke again, in the middle of circular black room. A ring of pillars surrounded her, reaching up to the sky as far as she could see. Threads of fine silk were tied around the room, wound around her limbs, tangling in her hair, tightening around her neck. An attempt to move only tightened them further.
Ả̶̠͈̹̜͔͛̉̓̏͆͝k̸͎̱̜̜̜͚̘͆͌ͅͅu̶̡̢̜̬̼͔̔̈͗̐̌̈́͗ḿ̸̧̢̘̭̫̟̞̙͓̙̟̭̬̥͊̽̆̈́͊́̋͗͆̕ą̴̦̖͖̻͕͕͆̿̌̒̕͘...
She tried to respond, but the threads only wrapped tighter, cutting off her supply of air. tears streamed down her face, and she watched, unable to react, as a shadowy figure dressed in a cloak entered the room.
It was inky black, and seemingly blended with the floor, a polished black marble. Two pedestals rose from the ground before the figure, both containing statues carved from white marble. One was a baby, seemingly a newborn, and the other an old woman, hunched over, carrying a cane.
P̸̨̧̥̬̬͕̯̬̣̫̬͐̉̿̈́̓̏͊̈́̏̇̍̿͘͘a̵̛̼͎̟̙͈͎̪̗̬̪̙͙͒̃̾̈́̂̑̈́͗̆́̅͑̽͝s̵̢̨͚̠̘͉̺̮̜̻̦͔͙̮̞͋͊ẗ̴͖͓͎̩̞͎̈́͋̆̾̈́̌́̒̎̍͝,̷̛̗͍̞̻̗̬̼̲̞̯̺͇͇̑̈́̐́̌̃͛͊̒́̿̔ ̸̨̲̺̱̝̪̳̎̿̆́̒̂̑̓͝ṕ̶̥̩̤̑̒̈́͗͆͝͝r̴̫̈́̀͑̈͑̊͂͂̆͘͘͝e̶̢̛͓̫̤̙͎͖͊̿͗̔͐́s̴̺̥̠̄̑̊̉̊͊̀̉͛̚ẽ̸̛͎̠͕͙͎͂̃̾̃̄̇ͅn̶̼͇̳̞̘̪̣̩̻̥̓̒̈́̇̎̒̈́̀͐̽̈́͗̌̎t̸̛̬̼͝,̴̛̠̹̓̂̓͂͋ ̸̧̛̯̦̮̪̺̻̾̈́́͑̾̓͗̿͌͑̐͐͋͝ͅf̶̡̛͔͍̻̟̫̠͉̯͐̓͜ư̵̢̬̼͎̩̩̠͇̱͖̣͕͚̠͛͋͛̂̏̿̒̿̈́̌̌͌̕ṯ̵͖͉͉͈͖̍̐̚̚͝ū̵̡͈̗̹̹̃͐̊͗͊̏̕͠͝r̶̼͙͗̒͗͜͠e̵̛͔̳̒̈͒̐̈͛̀͋̀̽̑̚͠...
The statues slowly started to crumble, and Akuma could feel her skin peeling away as she floated skyward, the silken strands tearing and biting into her skin, Everything faded around her, before a bright light suddenly filled her vision.
She was standing in a field of pure red flowers. The silken strands were gone. A small pillar ended in a small table, with an empty bowl and a knife. Akuma instinctively picked up the knife, and drew it across her wrists.
But instead of blood flowing from her wrists to fill the bowl, red flower petals were plucked by the flowers by some invisible breeze and carried toward the bowl, swirling around it, solidifying into the shape of a heart.
Akuma grabbed for it, but it shattered into millions of mirrored shards, each showing her reflection, and they slowly zoomed in until they each showed a single one of her eyes.
The eyes looked past Akuma's physical form and their gaze alighted upon Akuma's soul.
We must pass judgment.
Akuma's body was blown open like a book in a stiff breeze, and the pages scattered among the mirrors.
Akuma's vision faded to white...
scars is the new signature card, and as you can see I switched Akuma's design up a bit to try to show how she's changed. It's kinda hard to convey with MTG mechanics, but I hope I did it well enough. I also had enough space for flavor text. yay!
(also yes the very last part of the dream is 100% a Heaven's Door reference)
Storyline cards.
The three knights passed through the gate towards the market. Renain was stretched out on the floor to rest. He just hoped that no other fighter would see him in that situation.
A short stop for breakfast ... with beer.
The three knights toasted and had a nice breakfast. Maycon didn't just want beer and barely touched the sausages. Aeryn still wasn't comfortable with her new cavalry colleagues. After her promotion, months later she was already traveling to Kiserova's champion tournament.
'' So how's your stay in Kiserova? Many wars are going on, '' the last part Marian spoke softly.
"Well, did something different happen here?", Added Maycon.
Aeryn took a breath and took a brief summary. She told of the environment, the little fight that took place under the city's temple with the rejected contestants. She spoke of her battle and the memories that her rival's fire brought. A pain that gave her strength and forget what happened on her second mission at the School of Knights.
Finally, when commenting to Cranket, she showed the lifeless artifact that stirred excitement in Mirian and Maycon.
''This is not good. Let's go to a more reserved place, '' Maycon said.
At that moment Renain appeared and mentally wondered where they were going now.
The knights did not go very far. They arrived in an alley where the busy city was not very busy.
"This artifact is a bomb," Maycon said while Mirian nodded. This robot you mentioned has powerful reactors, probably the reason for the ritual of the other participant. The chalice must have drained much of the power, but it still needs to be contained.
"Renain!" Called Mirian. "Can you get in touch with the tournament organizers? This needs to be contained before it causes any major problems. If you can't, bring it back to us and Maycon will fix it. ''
'' I can try, '' said Renain, startling taking the artifact and leaving the alley.
@Jonteman93
_____
With Renain's failure to contact the organizers, he returned with the artifact and handed it to Maycon. They were on the coast of Kiserova and with a totally unconcerned look he threw the artifact into the sea.
The ninth fight - Akuma x Jelene
The ninth fight was very brutal in the forest. Aeryn didn't know what to say. Nyrea on her back emitted a lifeless black aura, showing Aeryn that the fight would not have a happy outcome. From a distance she heard Akuma's friend Nilani shouting to encourage her.
It didn't help that both Medirna and Gwendolyn were both mobilizing for war. Brynn knew that that would cast a shadow over the tournament, not least Kiserova and Vosanova. She knew that Medirna wanted her support, at least until her part in the tournament was done, but she figured that protecting the people caught between the two greater powers was more important. Besides, if the rumors of Moktaractus were true, it wouldn't really matter which side she cared about protecting more if it happened. And if Septhis was a force for the abyss...
Brynn ruffled her wings. There were a few contestants Brynn knew who could act as...whatever Septhis was. Talking to them about it probably wouldn't be polite, so doing it was probably out of the question. Still, she was nervous. She couldn't stop Septhis alone if she had to face it.
Hopefully, the other contestants will stand against it, Brynn prayed to herself.
"Again!? It's the fourth this week! What are the guards doing?" The low-ranked Medirnian officer followed his men to the place outside the city they had told him about.
A caravan of eight wagons had been attacked with some of the wagons lying on their sides with barrels and containers spread all over, all empty.
Many guards were spread out on the ground, some wounded and a few dead. The rest of the guards were either helping their companions or trying to repair the wagons so that they could salvage what had not been stolen or destroyed.
"Damn those bandits. Where are the Kiserova guards when you need them?" The officer grunted as he examined an empty barrel.
"They were not bandits sir, they were citizens."
"Citizens? If they kill and destroy while they rob a caravan, I will not call them anything else but what they are. Criminals, thieves, murderers, bandits."
The guards just finished repairing one wagon and now helped the wounded men up onto it. Groups of citizens were watching the guards and soldiers from further away. Some of them tried to come near, probably to help, but the guards kept them at bay. Other citizens did not have the slight expression of worry, but instead of anger.
"I'm starting to crave for a public execution, matters not much if it is the actual criminals being executed, just to stand as an example to those that would disturb the peace." The officer said as he stared at the corpse of a guard.
The soldier beside him looked nervously around to see if any citizen heard him.
"Ehm, sir. Sorry to remind you but you do not have the authority to order an execution, sir."
"I know that! I said I started to crave, not that I was planning to-. Learn to forking listen, you're a soldier, you're supposed to be good at that!"
One of the soldier chuckled accidentally.
"Oh you think it is funny?" The officer approached the soldier who shook his head still trying to not laugh.
"Your kinsmen have died today and here you are unable to keep yourself from laughing? Look at your dead kinsmen!" The officer pointed towards four guards, one of which was not dead but unconscious. "Is that funny to you?" "N-no, no it-it s-tragic, sir."
"No it is not funny. They are lying there in the mud because some criminal decided that they had the right to take these men's lives. What are you going to do about that?"
"Uh, uh. I would. I will avenge them. I will kill the killers."
"You're going to leave your dead kinsmen in the mud as you go and search for some worthless criminal?"
"No-no-no..."
"Then go and help the guards taking care of the bodies and the wounded! All of you!"
The soldiers did salute and walked to help the guards.
"Ugh. give me a paper and a pen. I need to make inventory report before they move away anyone or anything." The officer said and soon a soldier came with a paper and a pen as he had requested. The officer looked east towards Estina forest which had been made forbidden to enter for any non-Kevalerian soon after the last match more than a week ago. "What is going on here?"
Nilani walked out of her lodgings to be greeted by intense sunlight that bilinded her for a few moments.
"I think it might be good to take a trip to the forest and train. By myself. Even though it’s forbidden. I need to be able to defeat my opponent."
Nilani quickly walked to the clearing, being sure to evade any tournament officials, she had found with Akuma at the start of the tournament. Nilani started by working on her agility, then created small invocations and launched them at nearby trees.
As time passed, Nilani slowly made her invocations larger and larger, until the golden figures were about half as tall as one of the nearby trees. Given the progress that she made, Nilani expected to feel satisfied. Yet, somehow, she didn't. There was still something that she couldn't do.
I need to master my cloning spell.
Nilani created a ball of light. Slowly, with shaking hands, she allowed it to grow. First an arm, then a leg, and the same for the other side. Then it grew, larger and larger into a tall golden figure- a normal invocation.
Nilani took a deep breath, still shaking. She accidentally jerked her hand, causing her invocation to destroy a nearby tree.
Calm down Nilani. This is what you were born to do. You heard the Red Queen. Nilani focus.
Nilani looked around. She could see a bird perched atop a small, yellow tree.
All I need to do is transform my invocation into that. Easy, right?
Nilani closed her eyes and held out her right hand again, using her left hand to keep her other hand steady. Finally, her invocation started to glow.
It's happening! Yes!
Nilani's invocation collapsed in on itself creating a tiny ball of golden light.
After so many years...
The light grew brighter
will this how my nightmare, my past, my everything ends?
More lights started to swirl around the ball of light.
M̶̨̨̞͎͔̜̥̼͉̔̂̐̃͌̊ų̵̢̬͍̺̫̜̺̤̹̯͊̿̀̾̍̕̚͜͠ͅr̷̨̺̳͕̭͇͕̬̞͔̙͈͆̎̆͐̋͒̉̿̓͒̈́̎̊̚̚ͅd̸̡̧̻͎͚̗͔̻̳͉̞̤̤͇͙̦̻̄͆̔̈́̋̾͗̿̈̍̐͛̆͐̈̌̏̅͐̐̈̕ȩ̶͕͚͉̞̔̏̃̇́̊͛̀̈̈͋̈̇͐ŗ̶̧̛̛̹̹̝̯̩̪͇̲̭̠̙̦̥̤̙͔̳̙̠͇̥́͋̾̒̈́́͂̊̓̈́̎͊̀̿̔̆̽͘̚͘͜͝͠...
No. No. No! I can't do it...
Y̸̯̰̠͉̰͚͓̯̼̫͓̤̜̑͗͑̀̑́͒͌͊̿̉̐̔ŏ̵̡̡̡̡̹̫̭͔̰̙͕̼͕̩̲͉͔̩̺͊͐̐͛̂͘̚͜ǔ̷̠̠̤͓͖̣̫̖̹̓̔̽͛̌̎̅̑̓̓̓̅̿ ̴̡̨̧̮̺͎̺̤̳̲͇͈̙̦̬͕̣̮̠͓̫͈͛͌͌͗͂͒͆̊͂̐͛̓̄̓́̓̿̌̋̕̕͜͝͠ͅc̸̗̭͚͎͍̲̠̹̯̎̓̓̂͊̇̀̈́̂̃͆͗̂̃̍̍̽͆͘̕͝͝a̴̢̡̢̪̱̹͖̹̖̜̹͉͖̹̜̖̰͙͗́̍͂̇̈́̍͂̾̾̈͑̇͑̀̾͝͝ņ̵̨̡̛͔̝̱͕̘̫̰̗̹̹̳̺̣̙̜̝̲̦̠̿͐̄̄͑̊̂̑̎͜͜͠ͅ'̵̢̨̢̛̰̲̳̲̝͍͖̖͍̬͖̣̝̜͇͐̌́̌́̅́̎͂̈͛̓̓͂̋͋̕͜ţ̴̧̱̤̰̦̮̖͕̯̻͕͎̮̳̙͖̤̼̗͖͐͋͛̽̊̈́̌͌̚ͅ ̴͇̲͊͗͊͂̏͌̊̓̽̀͊̊̀̿̚͠͝͝l̸̢̢̤̖͕͖̟̲͔̣̯͉̦̦͈͓͍̝͎̐̐̏̽̂̔̐̈́̂̂̌͆̍̕͜͠ǫ̶̢̨͉̳͉̦̯̻͙̳̤̪̠̈́̏͂̊̔́̊̽̏̊̈́̆̈́̔̈́̒͌͘͝͠š̷͓͖͎͝ē̵̮͇̳̲͈̫̟̱̙͎͚͉̤̦͒̆̅̐̆̄͋̏͑̾̚̕͜͝͝͠ͅ ̶̛͎̘͙̳̱̤̤͈̉̉̎̎͛̑̊͛͊͗͊͠͠͝c̸̣̉̐̈́̽͒̇͑̓͊̍̋̑̋͑͐͑͠o̴̡̧̳̗̥̗̹͙͙̞̱̘̖̗̻͚̖̣̲̖̠̯̿̀̀̅̒̂̎̌́̓̽̃̂̾̄͂̑͆̑́͗͛̕ṅ̵̫̗̆̂̈́̏͗̆͗͌͌͛̓̂̓͆ẗ̷̙̜͙̟̳̙̹͖̆́͐̈́̏͗̿̋̎͌̄̚͘͠r̴̢̢̜͖̹͉̳̰̬̼̳̞͚̹̯̗̪̎́͑͐͒͝ͅơ̸̡̪͕͖̳̝͔͕͖̣̟͈̻͕̖̼͋̌̋̎̏͊͂́̊̀̏̿̀̕̚͘̚͝͠l̵̛̛̲̻͔̰̺̭̲͖̱͉̯̘̣͆̄̔̂͊͐̾̍̍͛͐̈̑̑̕͘̚̚͘̕͝ ̵̱͛͋a̴̛̫̱̩̤̖̬̯̻̞̎̽̽͋͒̎̀͛͗͑͑̍͂͆͘̚͠͝͠g̸̡͔͍̻͕̲̹͍̘̹̮̰͔̦̣̠͂͌͋͂̅̿̀̄͗̓̕̚̚͝ą̴̛͍̪̠̞̳͔̙̤̐͝í̴̧̨̲̝̙̙̱͕̩͕͎̳͙̞̥̤̯̭͍͓͋̄̾̈͛̅͑͂̿̀͊̅̒̕͘̚͝ͅn̵̡̛̳͓̜̠̗̰̬̼̞̝͈͕̲̖̞̙̞̏͌̓̉͑͗̑̒͗̎̓́̍͗̎̐̚͘͘͜͝ͅ,̸̟̦͕̠͈̝͍̭̏̍̈͑̓̈́̊͜͝ ̴̙̈́̿̋͗̒N̸̡͇̹̙̯̟̫͉̘̱̰͙̭̩̬̠̊͐̃́͒̍̽̏̈̃̒̀̔́̓̆̏̕͜͜i̷͚̺̺̻̲̼̥̙̞͚̝͓̞͌̓̍ͅl̷̠̖̗̏̀̀̋̊̒̆͊̋͗͑͐̀͜a̵̡̨̭͙̜͕̺̳͖̳̜͔͈͎̙͉̗̙̗̮̭̭͗̅̇̏̀̉͑̏͘̚͜ͅņ̴̪͉͎̜͈̼̌͆́̏͜ĭ̸̞̰͓̹̟͖̘͈̠͎̞̥͇͉̱̘̪͖̟̜͓̣̤̈́̽̐͋̔̈́͗́̅͛̀̈́̒̃͝ͅ.̶̧̨̛͎͕̩͉͇̺͈̠͈̜̗̇̽̇̉̾̌̾̉̑̈́̉̋̂̒̚͘͜͝.̵̡̫̠̮̬̤̥͙̱̻̞̳̗̤̰̜͍̔̊̈́̓̆̍͜͝.̴̧̧̪̬̯̟͈̝̖͔͓̹̯̣͖̰̙̺͈͔̯̔̈́̓̔̍̍̏͗̋̏̉̍͆̉̽̋̚̕͝͝͝ͅͅ
The lights stopped swirling. The light slowly faded out into nothingness and Nilani collapsed on the ground.
"I can't do it. I'll never be able to do it. After everything I've done...I'm still the same, weak enchantress I was before..." Nilani cried to herself, "Akuma's grown. She's a powerful warrior now, and me? I've got nothing. I...I can't win against a powerful slime like Squrturglus...right?"
There was a huge explosion and a large red flare that lit up the sky for a moment. Nilani jumped up.
What was that?
Nilani ran as fast as she could in that direction, ignoring the thorns and branches scraping at her face and dress.
In a few minutes she found herself close to the explosion site. Nilani searched around cautiously.
"Arrgh!" Nilani screamed as a voice echoed in her head. Nilani stumbled and fell.
M̸̨̦͎̺̯͖̫͔͚̂̌͛̋u̴̢̜̗̖͎̩̠̠̜̖̞͕͚̹͎̳̠̣͊̾͗r̵̯̮̹̝͋́̏̔̑̏̆̓͐́͠͝d̴͖̗͎̬͇̯̘̝̣̑͌̈̄̃̀̑̔͌̏́̍̚e̷̡̼̭̗̻̗̮͙͙̦͊̍̊̆̈́̏̐̍̓͋͋͘̚ͅr̸̢̧̭̣̜͉͉͍͇̯̯͕̺͚͈̳̟̜̟͕̹̣̥͖̒̂̊͗̑͒̆͗͝
Finally, she saw it. A civillian of Kiserova lying spread-eagled in the mud.
She got up, her dress now tattered and muddy. There were a few scratches on her face, but it was nothing compared to what she saw. A man lay in a pool of blood, his face beat up and bruised. His shirt was torn and there were long gashes across his otherwise smooth chest. The gashes seemed to form something. A symbol of some sort. A familiar one.
Where have I seen that before? In some sort of castle? No...hold on...
Then, Nilani remembered. Horrible memories coursed through her head. Nilani felt sick. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to go back in time.
A blast of red light slammed Nilani from behind. She fell face first into the mud. Then, everything went black.
D̴̛̹̤̱̓̇ë̴̥́̀a̵̠̱̽̒͂ͅt̸̢͇̰́h̷͍̗̕.̶̤͋̿ ̷͔̮̭͝D̸̘̄̂e̶̗͍̗̽̈́s̴͓̓̚t̶͖͉̤̐r̸͓͚̈́͂ų̷̪͈͒̅c̴̼̄̃t̴̼͆͠i̷̦̥̅͛̓õ̶̬̺͘n̷͈̖̱̂̐͝.̷̨̻̝͗ ̷̟͌M̷͔̰͋̈́̚ã̴̼̰̝͆d̷̝͗n̷̛͎̎ḙ̵̅͗͂ś̶̪̺̋͝s̸̨̓̇.̶̠̮͗̾ ̶͇̇̏S̸̟͊̇h̷́͜ė̷̙̥͔'̶̮̝̓ș̷̫͇͛ ̷̀̓̈́ͅc̶͖̜̥̚͝ŏ̵̧̼͒͆m̵͈̐̑̚ǐ̴̫̠̓n̵̲̓̊g̸̠̏̍.̴̟̥̙̚.̵͎̉.̷̠̫͙̅
The market was filled with angry people. Since the Medirnian army had arrived, much of the food production had gone to them and as supplies to the Gwendolyn war effort instead of the market and the people. The prices had increased significantly, on some items so much as two or three times the original price. Every stand that sold food was surrounded by people furious that the merchants were betraying its own people, forcing the poor to starve. The merchants tried to reason with the costumers but little effect.
The guard had been doubled the last week and almost every Kiserovan guard north of the river had been replaced by a Midernian guard that was more intent to harm any troublemaker. The people were angry, the poor had begun to starve, the robberies increased in numbers, the guards became more violent. The peace and order was slowly breaking.
The arena was as usual, surrounded by soldiers, nobles, gamblers, beggars and others. The place was surprisingly calm compared to other parts of the city. In lines the audience walked into the multiple entrances of the arena walls to see the coming match.Nobles were usually escorted by four to eight soldier but through the crowd came someone that was escorted by at least sixty, a formally dressed woman with red long hair. She entered the entrance that led to the balconies of the leaders.
Inside the arena, arrangements had been made. Large pillars of different sizes stood spread out together with stone obstacles and platforms. Artiem sat in his chair in front of his subordinate commanders, and pondered about something.
"I thought you said you would not watch the match today?" Artiem look over his shoulder at the red haired woman who stood beside him.
"Yes I did, but I needed to change environment as the stone walls did not do good for my mind." Artiem said as he signaled the commander beside him to move to a chair further back. The woman sat down in the just freed chair.
"Have toy thought of a solution yet?" She said
"I have thought of probably everything. There are no apparent good solutions."
"So an execution would not sustain?
"The problem with an execution is that there have to be an accused that is proven guilty, otherwise the population will get only more up in arms than they already are.
"How about distributing the stored food. I heard the wheat storage is quite full." She said.
"Don't mock me. That storage is for the winter. If we take it there will be a mass starvation when winter comes.
"Request more food from Minova, Kasto and Ovan Astova."
"That would just put the problem elsewhere where we cannot control it, while we would lose even more food to bandits and other causes."
"You want to scare the population to submission but you don't want to kill a few people that you can just accuse of robbing you? Since when did you get so honorable towards this people that you treat them as if they were Gwendolynian or even Medirnian?"
"... I have been stationed her for what is it now? 8, 9 years? Such long times changes... Wait, what did you just say? Scare the population to submission, treat them as Gwendolynian. Kiserova is almost exactly between Beldon and Grailine. I should still have time. Soldier! I need a flying messenger immediately!" Artiem shouted as he almost ran out from the balcony.
Down in the arena, Nadja and Daniel had just presented Brynn and Aeryn who had taken their position. "Let the tenth match of the tournament begin!"
@SpellPiper2213 vs @CassZero
"Are you a monster or are you a slave?"
"Let the tenth match of the tournament begin!"
This would not be a battle to the death. They had already agreed about that earlier. A fair fight with their skills and blades alone and when one would feel that lose was not too far away, they would surrender.
"Better to lose and live than win and die." Aeryn said as to remind them both. Brynn nodded as she drew her sword and took flight. Aeryn took a deep breath as she also drew her sword. "Let's live and see the tomorrow day together." Brynn said just as she flew towards Aeryn in high speed. Brynn's blade came with such force that Aeryn was pushed back as she blocked. She landed and rolled on the sand. She raised herself up and heard the Brynn's hand in the sand. Aeryn turned around and just managed to block Brynn's low attack.
Brynn flew to the side as Aeryn covered her right shoulder with her left hand. "Ouch! That hurt really bad." She said kneaded away some of the pain. She was lucky as that could have dislocated her shoulder. "Now its my turn." Aeryn raised her and began dashing forward. "I don't think it is." Brynn said and flew up to the closest pillar.
"Really? Ok then." Aeryn sighed. She walked to the pillar and with the runes in her blade she sliced straight through. Brynn almost lost balance as the pillar came crashing down but she managed to gain flight and stay airborne.
"You are a very nice person and good friend but by the holy divine, you're an annoying opponent." Aeryn said. Brynn descended upon and struck at her. Aeryn having learned not to take the strikes head on either dodged them or deflected them. Then Brynn made a thrust attack that when blocked, she moved forward with her whole body, and the blade struck Aeryn beneath her left shoulder. Brynn withdrew. She looked at Blood was sipping between Aeryn's fingers as she held her hand over the wound. "Are you okay? Do you want to surrender?" Brynn said. Aeryn chuckled. "It's just a scratch. I've had worse wounds from less." As she wrapped a piece of cloth around the wound, Brynn flew away.
She looked a little tired, probably because it was hard to both fight and stay in the air at the same time. This gave Aeryn the advantage she had searched for since if Brynn had to fight on the ground, her wings would only be in her way.
Brynn flew around the arena for some time before she flew high up in the sky. Aeryn expected her to try another attack kept her in vision. Brynn flew into the sun, blinding Aeryn so she had to cover her face. Aeryn slowly moved towards the closest pillar to take cover while not moving her eyes from the sky. She could not see Brynn directly but from between her fingers she could see if Brynn would descend. She kept watch as she moved closer and closer to the pillar. The audience who was usually quite loud grew quieter. Then the sun must have begun to disappear behind a cloud as the light turned darker and Aeryns skin became colder. When the sun had disappeared completely behind the cloud she removed her hand.
The sky was black and audience was gone. The sun did no longer shine, it had turned dark red, but it was the angel who made Aeryn the most nervous. High up in the sky. Her wings were red and kind of fleeting like they were made of liquid blood. Her skin was grey and her hands were covered in blood. She stared at Aeryn with shining blood-red eyes. Then she descended towards Aeryn. Aeryn got cold in her heart as she witnessed the monster approach her swiftly. Aeryn charged her sword with the runes as much as she could and when Brynn was close enough, Aeryn threw the blade. The sword hit her straight center and a strong white light spread, blinding Aeryn.
The audience gasped and cheered. Aeryn tried to see what had happened but she was still blinded by the strong light. When her eyes had gotten used to the light, she saw that the sun was back and the sky as usual. She also saw blood splatters over the closest pillars and her sword on the ground, also stained with blood. She looked around but could not find Brynn. "Brynn, where are you." she yelled. Only the sound from the audience filled the arena for a while before Brynn answered. "What was that? Were you trying to kill me?" Aeryn looked at a pillar on the other side of the arena. "No. You scared me. I saw something." only moments later, an apple landed beside her and soon another one. Aeryn looked towards the audience and saw a kid who waved with an half-eaten apple in his hand. "You know, Brynn. Let's take a small lunch break before we continue this." She turned towards the hosts.
Brynn sat down with her back towards the pillar and Aeryn. Aeryn's attack had broken off a small chunk her breastplate which had been heavily bleeding but she had taken care off. Her wings were slightly burnt but still in good shape. "Lunch break? What does she think this is, a vacation?" She thought for herself. She heard something small land beside her. She turned her head. She froze to ice and she almost threw up as she saw it. A decapitated head of a child. Brynn looked up. The world had turned dark, the sun did no longer spread light, the audience were gone but something dark or black covered the bleachers around the arena. She stood up with the sword ready in her hand as she walked around the pillar. She saw Aeryn, grey skin, dead dark eyes, black armor and an aura of evil power surrounded her. Aeryn was eating from the body of the child, blood dripped down her jaw. Brynn was filled with sickness and rage.
She flew with haste towards Aeryn. She gathered all strength she had in her sword as she swung. Aeryn dodged the attack and readied her blade. Black runes were glowing from the sword. Brynn struck again and Aeryn blocked. White and black sparks were spread all over. Brynn then managed to strike Aeryn in her chest so she flew, the armor still intact though damaged.
Aeryn regained her balance. She looked at Brynn who's hair had turned red and the world was dark again. "This cannot be Brynn, she would not actually try to kill me." she thought. Aeryn charged her runes on the blade and dashed forward. Brynn elevated at waist height from the ground. Aeryn struck high and hard against the monster she had thought was Brynn. Brynn pushed her attack back with her own. As Aeryn fell back, Brynn thrust her sword towards her head. Aeryn managed to raise her sword but Brynn's blade was only redirected and hit Aeryn's left arm instead. Aeryn screamed of pain but she took the opportunity and struck towards Brynn while her sword was inside Aeryn's arm.
Brynn moved aside but not fast enough as Aeryn managed to make a small scar on her cheek.
Brynn knocked the sword out of Aeryn's hand and grabbed it. Then she stepped on Aeryn's right arms. "Nyrea, resist her! Please!" She yelled, but Nyrea could not or did not want to resist Brynn. Aeryn was done for. Her arms were stuck and Brynn held her sword, ready to decapitate her. "Nyrea!!" The sword did not fall, in fact it did barely move at all as the runes on it began to glow intensively. The runes grew brighter until the sword was almost burning. Aeryn was blinded by the light and then the light exploded into flame.
The audience were gasping, and cheering. Brynn stood just before Aeryn with Nyrea lying on the ground beside her. She stared into the ground and the half-eaten apple, and soon she walked towards Aeryn, who tried to move away but was still stuck by the sword. Brynn drew out the blade and Aeryn screamed of he pain. Brynn walked away from her and towards the balcony the center. "Hosts of the tournament. I ,Brynn, surrender!"
"What? But the match is yours, you can still win." said Pjetro.
"No, I cannot." said Brynn. Then she left the arena.
Aeryn slowly managed to get up onto her feet with only her right arm. It was clear that whatever had happened to Brynn, and probably herself as well, the audience had not been aware of it. Brynn also seemed to know something about it, was that why she did her choice?
"Strength, honor and purity are weakness that can so easily be manipulated."
Somewhere, a girl had just stopped playing her violin.
CassZero
Congratulations!
Aeryn managed to find a way out of the abyssal "Illusion" which caused Brynn to surrender, and thus she wins the 10th match.
She will fight in the semi finals and she will do so against Akuma.
You may now make a choice.
- increase Aeryn's mana cost to 7
- add a new signature or companion card.
You may change the cards you already have as long as they follow the restriction put on them by the choices you've made.
I wish you good fortune in the continuation of the tournament.
"Even a monster can find her path again. Are you a monster, Brynn?"
SpellPiper2213
If one must always win, one must always lose.
It was by the smaller things that Brynn lost today.
It is fun and much more interesting to have anything that is not a human, sadly that was not enough.
It has been very interesting to have Brynn fight in the tournament but it does not have to be over yet. She have many options from here on, will she return home, will she defend Kiserova or will she find an answer to what happened in the arena and why she lost control sort of?
Otherwise I hope that you want to stay to continue participate in the game, even if so only to read. The more the merrier.
Thank you!
The angel slid down the wall, putting her head in her hands. Someone or something had deliberately messed with her sight. From what she could tell, it had affected Aeryn as well. She'd surrendered because of that. Whatever had affected them, it wanted one of them to kill the other.
Brynn didn't want that.
Taking a deep breath in, Brynn stood. She needed to find out what had caused the vision. She chuckled when she realized it was just another of the many recent developments. The sponsors preparing for war, a contestant vanishing without a trace, and now this. It was getting weirder and weirder by the day.
She had to stay, at least until she could figure everything out. Maybe she could talk to Aeryn about what they had both seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@CassZero Great battle! Congratulations on winning. I look forward to seeing where you take Aeryn in the future.
A victory with the taste of defeat, but with a lot of honor and mystery.
At one of the entrances to the arena, Brynn watched the horizon ready to take flight.
"Wait, please!", The sound was of Aeryn coming from a dimly lit corridor, probably not to be seen.
Aeryn had an improvised bandage on her arm and was holding it in pain. Nyrea was sheathed on her back. In her free hand she carried a black cloak, probably to escape the arena without being seen. Aeryn's guide Renain cannot place his healers in the arena due to the uproar that Brynn caused in renouncing the victory that was in her hands.
''This victory does not seem fair, but thank you. I don't know what happened right, but it must have been something evil. My body was strange ... Nyrea was strange. You could have just knocked me out. Thank you again.''
'' Victory would not be fair to either side, I just wanted to be the first honored to resign. I wouldn't leave that taste for you. '' Brynn smiled charistically at Aeryn. "This force is really strange and I think it has nothing to do with the war"
Brynn's expression went a little dark, but in the end it was just the shadow of the arena covering the angel. Brynn had a determined look on her face. She wanted to find out what had happened and what was going on at the tournament.
'' I'll be back to make contact. I'll investigate what's going on here. '' Quickly, without letting Aeryn speak, she spread her wings and flew beyond her sight.
Aeryn put on her cloak with difficulty due to the wound on her arm and disappeared into the crowd.
(@SpellPiper2213 Great battle. And certainly a beautiful story created by @Jonteman93)
___
Aeryn took off the cloak. She was in a clearing in the middle of the forest. The place was beautiful and quiet, only lit by moonlight. With pain in her arm, she nailed Nyrea to a wooden stump and sat on another in front of the sword.
'' What happened there, Nyrea? I'm not saying about the visions, I'm talking about why you didn't answer me. '', Aeryn gritted her teeth looking at the expressionless sword. ''What happened? Speech! I can't believe that you were corrupted like me. An ancient sword corrupting itself for little. Shame.''
At that moment Nyrea shone with a black light around her and quickly turned red. She wanted to say that she didn't get corrupted, but she felt that something was wrong with both fighters. Aeryn failed to see Nyrea's expression as she touched the bruised arm.
"Let's train now, then."
Aeryn tried to lift Nyrea to no avail. She didn't want to be wielded at that moment. Aeryn forced the bandage to open.
''Damn it. Why is that now, huh? That power that eroded me was strange and I felt helpless ... and you didn't do anything.'', Aeryn picked up a stone throwing right at the rune that in ancient language formed the Y.
Nyrea at that same point shone brightly wanting to say something, but Aeryn's emotions did not allow her to open up to an astral relationship. Nyrea continued to shine, to the point of consuming the entire clearing and swallowing it all with white light and a dull explosion of runes on the sword.
(now will be the time to make crazy stories ''a la final fantasy''. I hope to make it before the semifinals)
Hold on. The winner of the tenth match was decided! I must've missed it in my unconscious state.
Nilani jumped up. Then, she realized how weak she felt. The back of her dress was soaked in blood, and there were some blood stains on the front as well. Nilani's face hurt as well. She touched her face. It was quite tender, and it stung to just touch herself. She looked down at the dead man next to her. Then, she looked back at herself. Then it dawned on her-
Someone just tried to kill me!
Nilani looked down at the bloody symbol engraved on the man's chest.
It's the mark of the Red Queen. The person Mystus worked for. The reason I was tortured for to years. Now, she's finally come to finish what she started...
Nilani tended to her wounds a little bit, then she slowly walked out of the forest, wincing with every step from pain.
Y̴̫̭̕o̸̽͋͜u̵̖̜̅ ̷̹̿ḧ̵̝̪́͒ă̷͉v̶̯̇͆e̷̖͙͋̉n̵͉̓͛'̶̐͠ͅt̸̨̅ ̵̦͚̑ë̷̛̪́s̴̡̛̪͋ć̴̮͝ap̴͓̞̏͠ë̶͇́̓ď̷̗̒ ̵̡͙͝t̵̡̛͔̎ḣ̶̯e̷͍̚ ̶̛̤a̶̗̱͛b̶̛̹̏y̵̭͍̍s̴̞̙̏s̵͉͍̽͘,̷̺͊̓ ̴̧̊N̷͚̐̇ḯ̷̮̳͛ḻ̷͠á̶̟͜ṅ̶̡͇i̵̥̎.̶̦̰̋ ̶͚͆Ý̶̺͓̒ó̵̫̺̊ư̷̢̑ ̴̬̩̉̒h̸̐ͅa̶͍̽͘v̵͖͘ẻ̷̯n̷̝͋̏'̶̭̯̆t̵̝̀ ̶͈̳͂͐ẹ̷͌̃s̷̃͜c̸̨͍͝ȧ̸̼p̶̘̥͋e̷̘̓d̵̈͋ͅ ̷̰̳͂̊h̷̭̭͗e̵̡̱̽̂r̶̜̂͝ e̷̼͒͝ḯ̶̖t̶̪͝ͅh̶̫́̾e̴͈̱͘r̷̪̰̆.̵͉̜͝.̵̼͊͘.̸͚͆
Nilani grasped her head again, trying to fight off the booming voice.
I must get back. Akuma...I must tell Akuma...
As Nilani stumbled back towards her lodgings, citizens moved away from Nilani, as she looked horrific. Nilani couldn't blame them.
After almost an hour of walking what normally would take twenty minutes, Nilani had reached her room. At last. Right as Nilani started to open the door, Efilia came out of the room.
"How odd," Efilia said, "It smells like blood."
She turned to face Nilani and jumped back.
"Arrgh! What happened to you?" the vampire exclaimed.
"Long story. Could you get Akuma?" Nilani asked calmly.
"Uhhhh sure," Efilia responded awkwardly.
She walked a few doors down and knocked on the door.
"Akuma? Nilani isn't missing!" Efilia called.
There was a crash from inside Akuma's room and the door flung open, knocking Efilia backward.
"Nilani!" Akuma yelled as she ran towards the enchantress, "I-"
Akuma suddenly stopped, looking at Nilani's condition.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you," Nilani said, "I just need to write down the pattern that the blood is arranged in on the back of my dress."
Akuma wrote it down on a piece of paper and showed it to Nilani.
"Just as I expected," Nilani sighed, "You see, it's not only a war and the abyss that's coming for me. It looks like now, I have to deal with the Red Queen. You see, that symbol, that's her mark. I've seen it twice before. Once in the room Mystus held me captive in, and the other, on a flag outside my village, just after I was born."
"What?" Nilani looked toward Akuma from where she paced the floor of the room, lost in though.
"All this pacing isn't going to get anything done. I'm intrigued, and worried too, but your match is tomorrow! You won't be able to function if you're all wound up. It's just getting dark out. Lets go get some drinks, have a night out on the town. Whaddaya say?"
Nilani tapped her fingers against her thigh thoughtfully.
"I suppose you're right" she said. "Overthinking won't get me anywhere." Akuma sat up from where she lay sprawled on the couch.
"Awesome. Let me grab my coat" As Akuma left to grab her coat, she chuckled to herself. Here she was, telling people off for overthinking, all the while overthinking herself. What a hypocrite she was. She grabbed her coat and caught up with Nilani by the door.
The air in the streets was tinged with cold, a subtle reminder that summer had passed, and without realizing, the tournament had bled into autumn. It seemed like only yesterday that they'd stood there, tensely awaiting their being chosen. Time sure flies, huh.
They decided to eat at a Vosanovan restaurant. They got a table outside and made idle conversation waiting for their food. When it arrived, Akuma looked at it with a sense of distrust. Nilani looked quizzically over.
"What's that look for? Never had traditional Vosonovan cuisine?" Akuma shook her head.
"I can't say I have. It's very different from the food of my home." Akuma looked wistfully over Nilani's shoulder.
"Where are you from, anyways?"
"I come from a place known as Kamigawa, from the region of Takenuma Swamp."
"Kamigawa? I can't say I've heard of it."
"I don't blame you. It's... elsewhere..." Nilani cocked her head, but then shrugged.
"Will you tell me about it?" Akuma looked slightly startled, as if she wasn't expecting the question.
"Well... It's difficult to describe, but I'll try my best. It's not very large, but it's very beautiful. Almost like a painting come to life. There's the plains of Towabara, almost endless golden grass in every direction. Each blade ripples under the wind and reflects light from the sun in the most beautiful ways. And then there's Minamo Academy. It's a truly beautiful set of buildings, perched at the top of a waterfall. On sunny days, the light reflects between the water particles kicked up and creates a beautiful rainbow effect. Jukai forest is one of my favorite places. The trees are immense, and the shade is truly wonderful on a hot day. I'd often go there to escape my troubles... And then, of course, Takenuma... Often seen as a vile place, and, well, it was. But it was my home. I knew my way around the currents and through the bamboo. From where I lived, I could see through the trees and to the stars."
Akuma instinctively wiped a hand across her eyes, and was surprised to find tears there.
"I'd give anything to go back..." Nilani opened her mouth to respond when a hand slammed down on the table. Akuma looked up to see a tall woman with a scar on her lip and a fierce scowl looking down at her.
"I knew I recognized you. You're that girl who fought Jelene, aintcha?"
Nilani stood up, indignant. "And what if she is?" The woman scowled harder
"Ever since their fight, Jelene hasn't come back to the Dragon's Den. Which is a problem, because we have a bet! And she owes me money. Yous are all a part of this tournament fiasco! I'll bet that you know where she is, dontcha?!" Akuma stood up as well.
"I'm sorry to hear she owes you money, but I don't know where she is." The woman sneered.
"I can see right through ya! You're lying! Now tell me, girlie, where she is! Tell me or I hurt you!" She reached out and grabbed Akuma by the shoulder. Akuma scowled.
"Call me Akuma. It would definitely be in your best interest. Believe it or not, I'm also wondering where she went-"
"Cut it out with your self righteous bullshit, girl! No one cares about your stupid quest for honor. It's boring and overdone!"
Suddenly, a knife appeared in her hand. Akuma tried to wrench herself free, but her grip was stronger than anticipated. A glowing beam from Nilani struck her hand, and the knife spun to the cobblestones. Akuma braced a hand on the woman's arm and twisted, drawing Zyletka simultaneously and holding it up to her neck.
"My name is Fumeiyona Akuma. I'm involved with things you could never even begin to comprehend. I've had the worst dreams of humanity, and I've tasked myself with seeing they never come true. I fight not for honor, but for myself and others. I don't fight to prove myself to anyone other than myself. And certainly not to you. Every day I live, is another day I fight for what I believe in. Is that not the truest honor?" A faint inky darkness swirled under the skin of her hand, and she quickly resheathed Zyletka before putting some money on the table and grabbing Nilani's arm, leading her into the crowd.
"A-Akuma?" Nilani asked. Akuma led them into an alleyway and slumped against the wall.
"I'm sorry I had to do that" Akuma looked down
"N-No, it's alright! I mean, it was sorta scary, but you were shaking the entire time. Are you alright?"
"About Jelene... I-I can't shake the feeling that I killed her. The one thing I swore I'd never do again!"
"Nonsense. Have faith in yourself! I know you better than you think I do. Even when under the influence of... whatever it was, you have the conviction of ten ordinary people. The Akuma I know would never betray her ideals, nor any combatant she fought against!" Akuma laughed shakily.
"I couldn't ask for a better friend, truly. I'm all worked up now, though." She grinned. "You wanna get in a spar or two? It'll help prepare for your match." This time Nilani was the one to grin.
"You ready to lose?"
"You know it. Now let's go!" Akuma helped Nilani up, and Akuma smiled to herself.
Thank you, Nilani...
(more sneaky jojos references in here hehehehe)
Edit: No amount of editing will hide your mistakes from me.
edit: I hate myself more
Edit: One thing- Akuma is 17, so she probably can’t drink...but I don’t know what the “laws” are in Kiserova.
This is really concerning. If I can’t walk here, what will I do in the prison dungeon being chased by a slime??
Akuma seemed to sense Nilani’s feelings. “Don’t worry, Nilani! After this you’ll be running like you were never injured at all!” Nilani smiled weakly at Akuma.
“Ready, Nilani?” Akuma asked as they arrived in the large field.
Nilani walked across the clearing and readied herself. With an unusually confident smile, she responded, “Ready when you are, Akuma.”
Akuma attacked first like usual.
Stay calm, Nilani! You can do this! You’re strong enough... I need to play defensive first.
Nilani quickly gathered energy, creating an array of small golden shields that floated in front of her. As Akuma slashed with Naku Tsuki, her sword rebounded off the shield, testing her arm in an odd position.
The enchantress seized her moment to fire off a blast of energy toward Akuma. The samurai quickly spun out of the way. Then attacked again, this time from a different angle. Nilani pushes forward another shield, trying to tire out Akuma before herself.
“Ugh...” Akuma said, clearly frustrated, “Will you open up your defenses at all?”
Akuma dashed froward again. Nilani readied another shield to block Akuma. As the warrior approached, she ran in an odd patter, swinging Naku Tsuki wildly, confusing Nilani.
How do I predict something like this?
“You’ll have to dodge, Nilani!” Akuma shouted, “And if I recall correctly, you’re pretty fast.”
The enchantress gritted her teeth. Nilani used her own shield as a platform, and launched herself off of it, evading Akuma’s first strike. Nilani felt immense pain shoot up her leg.
I need to be able to handle this. Fight through it! Fight, Nilani!
Akuma used the same shield to close the gap between the two champions. Then Akuma swung her sword again. Nilani smiled, though still evidently suffering from her injuries. The enchantress used her momentum to jump backwards, disorienting her opponent.
Akuma was a very good fighter though. She quickly regained her balance and pressed forward again. Normally, this type of attack would be easy for Nilani to evade, but her leg and back injuries didn’t allow her to turn and dodge easily. Nilani had to change up her strategy. She tried to create a shield, but Akuma slid under it, then used her sword to knock Nilani off balance. Akuma prepared for the finish.
“Well, it looks like I won, right, Nilani?” Akuma laughed.
“I’ve still got another trick!”
Like before, Nilani’s hand lit up, creating a bright gold flare, blinding Akuma. But, Akuma was ready for that. She knew where Nilani was. She brought down her sword, waiting for Nilani to give up, but suddenly, it felt like her sword hit the ground. Akuma gasped.
“Did I kill-”
“I’m right here!” Nilani said, exhausted, “But you should probably watch your sword.”
Akuma sighed. Then she felt Naku Tsuki get yanked from her hands. A large invocation was holding Akuma’s beloved sword.
“Give that back, you little-”
Nilani launched a blast of light towards Akuma.
When the time comes, my defense needs to transition to offense.
Akuma dodged it, then was forced to duck again from a swinging fist by Nilani’s towering invocation.
“I realized that I’m not agile right now, but my invocation? It’s in top condition!”
Akuma jumped up on Nilani’s invocation. She climbed up it’s leg, dodging repeated magical blows from it.
“Oh well,” Nilani sighed, “You better be careful Akuma!”
Nilani closed her fist and the invocation exploded right as Akuma grabbed her sword. Both Akuma and Naku Tsuki were launched into the air. Akuma quickly turned her body so that she could land in a good position.
Nilani pressed forward this time. Launching magical blasts, that Akuma was forced to deflect with her sword. One hit the hilt of Naku Tsuki, causing it to fly out of her hands.
There was no turning back now. Akuma smiled. Nilani was recovering. She drew her dagger dashed forward, dodging blasts of magic as she ran. Without notice, Nilani stopped. She put a hand from her stomach. She was winded. Her magical feats had taken significant amounts of energy from her.
Akuma stopped. Nilani did have the upper hand, but her endurance wasn’t good enough.
“Those damn injuries are getting in the way!” Akuma stated angrily.
“I need to push through. For a moment I thought I had gotten past that particular obstacle, but of course, I’m still hurt.”
“Maybe we should continue this tomorrow?” Akuma suggested, “You’ll feel at least a little better by the morning. When I get back, I can think of some ways to help you get through this. No, to help us get through this”
Nilani smiled and nodded. She needed rest. They walked back to the city together.
When Nilani reached her room, she collapsed on her bed, exhausted.
“Just some rest! That’s all, right?” she said to herself.
Ohhh, I’m going to need much more than that. Pain. Evil. Madness. The abyssal gates. The door. The war. The Red Queen. I’ll need to be tough. For me and Akuma. I know I can be more than this. I just need some sleep.
With that, Nilani fell off to sleep.
In a desolate plane stood a immense golden castle. Its spires pierced the clouds above like a claw of a malevolent entity due to its gothic-esque design. Originally, the whole plane was a desolate realm, but its only denizen had a brilliant idea to conduct his operations to obtain otherworldly treasures and influencing lesser entities across the multiverse through the mortals who strayed into that realm, whether by planeswalking or by another means entirely.
And statues that ranging between giant eldrazis, various giant monsters and entities of unknown origins, demons, angels, and humans too were also littered the land around the immense castle, parodying a chaotic dance that was forever frozen in time.
"So that Septhis is really on the move, hm. What a pity." Spoke a gravelly voice that belonged to a horned entity who sat on a throne in the said castle.
"My lord?" A kneeling person asked. The person was none other than the recently resurrected Jelene herself. She knew that the greed of the Syndicate Leader knows no bound, but she also knew that the Leader was not only merely greedy for he was also a criminal mastermind and possessed powers that no mortal could dream of. In short, the leader was an archdemon and a planeswalker who ascended long before the event of Great Mending itself.
"Group with the others to speed up the operations. Here's your new collective task: Aid the denizens to fight this Septhis, and when it is at the weakest, I shall capture it by myself. And it shall be a fine addition to my collection."
"Then it shall be done." Jelene nodded, then stood up and left through the active portal that was behind her. The humming orrery-like portal device was the only sound that accompanied her departure.
Then another person arrived with a gold and purple aether instead of by using the portal device. The said person was a rather short and skeletal due to its lack of flesh, skin, and organs. And their eyesockets were glowing with golden light that exuded malevolence beneath their dark and gold-trimmed hood.
"Ah, a perfect timing. I have a task for you, Auric."
"Heh, straight to the point eh, boss?" The skeletal person nonchalantly tilted their skull.
"Just go forth to Avelaide, to a city named Kiserova, and meet with my servants there. You shall recognize them by my mark on their souls. There they will debrief you about their mission. A great reward will come when the task is complete."
"Still grumpy as ever eh? Whatever, I'll see what I can do then. At least you're still golden heh, boss." The skeleton-planeswalker shrugged and turned around.
"Just don't forget the reward for my bro too." Then they snapped their boney fingers and disappeared in a golden light.
An unnatural storm then suddenly brewing outside of the castle, followed shortly by a deep and sinister laughter.