Entry 93 - Visions of The Past

Day 1

The water fades as light from the Yissen Prophet is drawn from the elements into the water. A young girl is seen, staring back through the waters. A man enters the scene, his halo is that of night, he states, "That is why we learn and grow, young one. We must become more than what we are. This city of dreams, in which we are bound; and the strength provided by our protectors the Echt is meant to accomplish extraordinary things. We aren't to let our purpose go to waste."

The young girl looks up at the man, defiantly, "Don't you see: we are just pawns in their experiments." The teacher looks back, "I took you in as my own daughter, adopted you as my own. We will not have this discussion again. This Dream, this City would not exist without their great wisdom." The young girl frowns, dissatisfied. She leaves towards a portal as she says, "I live by my own ways, no one else's. I will forge my own Dream." She exits the room and the image fades.

The elements stir violently in the room, a wind sweeps across as the leaves from the tree fall into the water. A new image is shown of the girl running through the rooms of what appears to be similar to the mountain. She comes to a stop, a Gatekeeper yells out, "Halt! You are not to pass!" The young girl pulls out a blade, the hilt made of fine gems; she spins around the guard and stabs him in his back as he fades into a soulsphere. The Gatekeeper yells, "The Coven will have your head, traitor!" The young girl continues to rush into the Palisades, she evades and sneaks past several figures as she enters through a portal.

She stops suddenly as she enters the room, face pale as a ghost; the image fades over to two figures standing over her father. He is paralyzed, stating that he will do what he can to please the Coven for they have given him everything. A cowled male figure states, "Very Well, we will proceed." it fires a chakram, as the other assists with the collapse.

The father, collapsed, cries triumphantly, "Glory to the Coven of the Echt! For their will brings prosperity to us all!"

The figure cackles as he breaks open a vial, an eternal darkness rushes out and combines with the soulsphere as the father emits a guttural yell. The second figure, a woman, evokes a art that is pure ruby: it slices apart the soulsphere. The father's soulsphere reforms into a hideous monster, hooded in abyss and jade. Skeletal arms reach out and it roars: "I am whole. I am more! I shall defend the Coven with my life."

The young girl screams, she drops to her knees; the two figures are startled. They turn and the woman yells out, "Slay this wretch! I have no time for insects!" The man says, "Let us be gentle with our guest. She just doesn't know her place. We will show her." The dark woman laughs and turns to the corrupted, maren father: "Capture the girl, bring her to us! We must know your loyalty, my Echten Knight".

The Echten growls ominously and begins to pursue his own daughter...the Image begins to fade away as a chakram disperses into the image and screams of the young girl can be heard.

Day 2

A layer of fog is seen as the scene materializes. The young lady can be seen standing with her face against the wall; a scraping sound is heard as she collects a specimen from it and places it in a vial, "I believe I have all I need"

The simultaneous roar of several Echten is heard nearby: the girl scrambles as they rush into the room. The Echten Knight makes a low hiss," You will not survive this night!". The Echten rush towards her as she spins and runs away clinging to the vials, her face full of fear.

As she enters the next room two dreamers run in, they both embrace her. The male dreamer says, " What have we told you?! Locate. Mind Blank. Be vigilant!" She looks at the two and says, "I have done it. I have found everything that we need to imbue it!".

The Echten rush in as chaks begin to fly back and forth. The Echten Knight begins to chant, he extends his claw and speaks as if commanding "No Escape!" The portal behind the three dreamers cracks and fills with darkness.

The Echten Knight lets out a guttural laugh, "End of the line, my dear daughter. Tonight, we end your foolish defiance".

The male dreamer plunges towards the Echten knight, he spins around the back in an instant and hits the Echten Knight with a chakram. The Echten Knight screams as he begins to weaken from the attack...

A dark, cowled figure enters the room, it waves a hand at the man and collapses him; it reaches out as darkness runs down his arms and engulfs his soulsphere. The helpless man yells out, "Save me!" The Dark figure DreamStrikes him, as the mass of soulsphere is sliced in half, it re-organizes and forms into an Echten. The girl screams, "No!!!!"

"Quiet insect, this is progress!" the Dark figure snaps back, "Welcome Echten Trooper. You will be a fine addition." The new Echten Trooper stares at the young girl, his friend only moments ago. His eyes are filled with a distant rage."

A wind blows through the Temple, leaves falling upon the water and sending ripples over the surface. The water stills and becomes completely tranquil...

The water surges upward in a violent column and then crashes down: battle rages between dreamer and Echten, screams fill the room "FOR THE COVEN!" "FOR OUR DREAMS!!!" metal upon metal, cracking of bones, screams of agony are heard. Echten Knights pour endlessly into the scene, clashing with a meager force of dreamers, fighting the Knights, fighting each other.

Arts blaze across the tableau as dreamers become paralyzed and collapse into helpless soulspheres. Few Echten appear to be losing their coherence, continuing to surge over the dreamers.

The young girl enters the room; her blade in one hand and a small, glowing orb in the other. She slashes and hacks her way through the crowd, beating back Echten and dreamer alike. The movement of her blade is precise and purposeful.

She screams out as her avatar is hit with Abjure: she stops frozen in the instant. The young girl is collapsed and set upon by a nearby Echten. The scene focuses in on them, all others drifting away.

The young girl yells, "Help, restore me! I am not done! This cannot be over" The young girl suddenly forms back into her avatar she lunges at the Echten's back and floats him. She quickly lifts the orb over her head...

An impossibly brilliant light beams up from the orb, the power almost tangible... The soulsphere of the Echten begins to expand and shrink, drawn apart by the brilliance of the orb. In one last burst, the Echten ceases to exist!

Another Echten charges the girl, the force knocking her back as she drops the orb, "My daughter, this is treason! Heresy! I made you strong and now you betray me, betray the Coven!? What madness drives you to this wickedness?!"

The young girl yells back " You are no father of mine! Look around you: All of this death is by your hand! You betrayed the Dream itself. You accepted The Darkness willingly!".

The Echten Knight slices into her, collapsing her easily, then yells out, "We have them, Masters. Do as you will!" Dark, cowled figures begin to enter from the shadows of the room, smiling with an eager malice: "That one looks divine, it will be perfect"; "This one is useless, just kill it. Maybe lock it away to play with later."

An imposing male takes center-stage: "Now now, all deserve to live within our purity, let The Darkness strip them of their inadequacies." Beside him appears a woman, "Well, they are your mutts, dear. You will have to deal with their insufferable frailties."

The dark figures move from soulsphere to soulsphere, one by one Striking them without mercy, flooding their souls with Darkness. An army of Echten rise and begin a death march towards the girl...

Day 3

The waters begin to roil and churn as they show the woman, orb in hand, walking towards her collapsed father. As she nears him, the scene suddenly freezes. The view pans out and then rushes through the facade portal.

In a blur, the view flies through the Stronghold to a room with a dark Altar and 5 sets of eyes, staring from beneath cowled hoods. An old woman’s voice: “Their strength is growing, it was only a matter of time for them to rebel. We should absorb them into the Darkness and be done with it.

A man’s voice fills the room: “Silence! They have grown strong but they are nothing in comparison. We have set in motion a fate that cannot be stopped.” A younger woman speaks: “We must become more.” The lead man laughs, “You can go first, sister.”

He produces a blade and slices into the woman. She screams and collapses! As the young girl begs, the others begin to chant, “Darkness, bring her into you. Raise her to more. Share with her your power.” Darkness begins to fill the scene, obscuring all but the collapsed woman. It begins to infiltrate her soulsphere, causing it to glow an eery mixture of red and black.

The soulsphere suddenly shatters and explodes. The man sighs, “She was unworthy.” Darkness fills the entire vision. An ungodly voice invades every corner of the Temple, resounding within the dreamers present: “Bring me the Queen.”

Distorted shadows of grotesque creatures begin rushing out from within the Darkness. They flood out of the facade portal. The original scene takes shape and the woman resumes walking toward her father.

She is suddenly swarmed by the shadows, dragged inside the Stronghold before she can react. The others on the facade look around, surprised, unsure. The shadows force her upon an altar. A dark power overwhelms her, unable to move.

She is held, suspended over the altar. The cowled figures look on, amused, as the Orb lifts out of her hand and is filled with Darkness. The central male reaches up, taking the Orb and slams it against the woman’s chest.

She tries to call out, grimacing in pain, but an ever present voice fills the room: “Traitor, heretic. You will now be MY Yissen!” The Orb glows within her, a brilliant light within the darkness. Her avatar melts away, her form ethereal. She opens her eyes, bright with power.

The Yissen reappears on the facade, the warring Echten still confused. Her father looks up at her, alarmed. “Alina...?” The Yissen smiles wickedly and extends her arms to her side. “This ends now.” An obscenely bright light explodes from the Yissen. Before they can take a breath to scream, the light blazes across the facade and burns away every dreamer, every Echten instantly.

Day 4

A cold mist sweeps across the room as the waters begin to slow down in movement, it is hard to make out, but a woman's voice is heard...

"Every night I dream, I am here. And every dream I have is nothing more than a nightmare. I was naive. This dream has swallowed me whole. I dream only of revenge. They have taken everything from me."

The scene fades in: blood red stone, black marble, and prison bars. It pans into the room slowly, a woman is seen, huddled in a corner, ragged, head hanging low. "I am not broken, for they can not cage my heart. They tried to give me a number. I am no prisoner." She etches into the wall a small line, in the last available space she can.

"Why do I even bother? I do not know if days past, or merely hours in this wretched cell. It feel as though an eternity, but in the Palisades... the true test is the disassociation the mind has on time."

Prisoners yell back and forth "We do not deserve this! Let us go!"..."It's her fault! Just kill us!"..."Burn that filthy witch!"..."We should have never trusted you!"

The woman grimaces as they shout at her, "I gave everything for them...they give only hatred. This prison has taken their minds, their souls..."

An Echten is seen as it crosses the view of the cell, "What would you do?" as it claws the bars. The woman jumps, "What?" The demon repeats: "What would you do!"

"I'd destroy the Coven, I'd tear apart the Darkness itself", she claims. "How?" She pauses: "I do not know yet...but I will swear my life to it."

"You cannot even destroy the Echten knights...they are now legion. The Coven holds the orb." The woman replies, determined, "Then I will take their armies."

The Echten lets out a shrill sound, almost resembling laughter: "Then lead us. We no longer wish this slavery. We have grown in power. Many of us long to tear apart our masters."

The woman stands, upright despite the pain, "Break my bonds and I shall not only lead you, I will destroy every last trace of The Darkness, if it takes eternity."

The Echten presses its claws together and puts them between the bars. In a strong shift outward movement, the bars bend then shatter. "We serve you now, our Queen."

The Echten leads her quickly through the Palisade. As they go through each portal, the sound of the battle grows louder. The Ecthen and the Revenant step out onto the facade to see a battle raging: Echten attacking each other, teeth and claws gnashing.

The Echten Knight yells out, "Desecrators, Betrayers! You shall know death. You will submit to the Coven or you shall not exist!"

Several echten rush towards the Echten Knight as one bites off part of its claw, ooze begins to leak to the ground. The Echten Knight screams out and smashes apart the Echten before him.

"I am the first, you weak fools. What do you th—-“. The Echten Knight suddenly stops, seeing his daughter. “What have you done!" The woman, flanked by rebel Echten, looks up at her father. Her voice heavy, she commands: “Destroy him”

The Echten rebels all converge on the first Echten Knight, collapsing him into a soulsphere. They roar out in victory. The woman produces the orb, walking slowly towards her collapsed, corrupted father.…

Reference:https://forums.underlight.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7048