“When you gaze up to the stars you see the lights of the Goddess lighting up the sky. When I look up, I see the empty spaces between the stars, the nothingness that exists for no reason. Then I worry, for if the heavens commands the stars, then what commands the darkness?”
- Astrologist [Redacted], Inquisitional Archives (Crime Accused - Heresy)
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Blackness. First there was blackness, then she felt weightless, breathless, and dazzled. Her whole being felt enveloped by darkness before the veil was lifted and her eyes darted all around as she struggled to focus. She spotted what seemed to be a town; little town houses, shops, statues, decorations and all almost like any other except for the lack of people. At what she assumed to be the center stood the blue tower, one that loomed ominously over the area, casting a shadow that only seemed to land on her and the palace behind her. Further above came the third abnormality, the lack of a sky.
No air rushed to caress her cheek, no rain drops to dampen her spirits, nothing at all. She gazed at the darkness beyond, the vast emptiness dotted with the flickers of starlights, gaseous clusters and strange orbs of varying shapes and colours. Planets, stars, and space if I remember Eva correctly, they look so…so strange but majestic, she mused as she gazed upwards. Her eyes filled with a sense of wonder only to be caught by surprise as a trail of space dust burst into life, the chunks of a planet seemingly disappearing inside a pitch black vortex.
She was confused at the sight, but there it was, if she squinted enough at the darkness she could see it. An odd looking orb that devoured the stars, it…it’s eating the stars?! In her shock she gasped, the sound barely carrying more than a few feet in front of her in the void but it was enough.
Terror and dread filled her heart in equal measure as a pressure unlike any other forced her to her knees. Time seemed to freeze as the orb seemed to shift in position, the rocks and bits of planets lingering in place like strangely wondrous wings. From the darkness it emerged, first one small eye stalk, then two, then a dozen, and soon hundreds if not thousands of tentacles, eye talks and strange appendages flitted towards her. Like a monster from her nightmares or rather, like the monster from her nightmares, giant planet-like flaps began opening to reveal an leathery eye that gazed intently at her direction with a pupil the size of a continent, an iris the size of an ocean.
Sophie felt small, tiny even as the gargantuan monster floated toward her, the dark infernal mass quivering with every motion. Elongated snake-like eye stalks slinked around a few hundred paces away from her, slimy viscous tentacles slathered a thin layer of mucus over the town as they drew closer. Pitch black skin pock marked with little bumps and craters like the shell of a planetoid, carved halfway into its mass was a giant abyss, a mouth. Skin stretched and tore as gelatin like teeth descended in their mountain like proportions to emulate what she could only hope was a smile. Its curious main eye, with an iris shifting colours instantaneously between every conceivable spectrum, gazed at her. The massive orifice alone dwarfed anything that she could imagine.
Hopelessness and fear wormed its way within her, her body going limp at the futility of trying to flee or confront such a creature. With tendrils the length of a river and as broad as the trunk of a mature oak, it was pointless to run. Its shadow loomed over her as it approached, the lights of the stars nearby drowning within the darkness of its skin, like some light absorbing monster. Then it blinked.
A shockwave pulsed out around it, or that was what it felt like. She could feel the force exerted upon her body like when Markus had punched her in the gut. Yet when she looked around, the town remained standing and nothing seemed to have fallen over. Furthermore, a few of the gigantic tendrils now beckoned her forward, and she felt very much like a doll in a playhouse.
With great effort she forced herself onto her feet and began the long trek forward. At first she found it nerve wracking. The giant eye stalks and massive main eye observing her every movement. Whenever she turned a corner, whatever stairs climbed up or down on, in front of her would be the slime trail of a recently retracted tendril. If she was unlucky, then she would see the fleshy sinewy eye stalk just as it receded down the street.
Then she grew solemn, knowing that should she do something to offend the entity, it could spell out her instantaneous doom. Having snuck a few glances at it, she grew more despondent at the thought that this was a creature that the Goddess and other Gods of the heavenly courts fear. Truly, she thought, there is no hope for any of us in the games of the Gods.
Finally, as she grew weary from the trek, exhausted from the constant stares from the creature, she had arrived at the base of the tower. The hairs on her neck stood one end, electrified by whatever magic emanated from the tower or from the creature above she did not know. But she did know that whatever light from the sun or stars that once glowed radiantly shined no more. Here, at the tower, and under the entity, there was only a land of shadow, of buildings covered by darkness, and of an ethereal chill that scurried its way down her spine.
Her mind raced its way into a fury, scrambling at all the possibilities and implications of the purpose of this tower and the entity. But, even while the hundreds of thoughts ran amok inside her head, her heart had grown silent, No longer could she hear the pulse that sustained her, despite her growing fear there was no sign of activity within her body. So much so that she had to pinch herself as she walked to make sure she wasn’t dead.
Ascending the tower, she found only a spiral staircase that stretched almost endlessly upwards, no rooms or even floors to rest one, just stairs. Pushing open the door after the final flight of stairs had brought about momentary relief before the calm was shattered.
Hanging directly above the tower was the entity in full. She could feel the heavy presence radiating from the creature and what felt like a tugging sensation that tried to drag her towards the creature. Resisting with all her might she turned to the glowing blue crystal that sat on a pedestal. She was here, on a blue crystal tower, just like in all her nightmares.
Detecting a reaction from the creature she squirmed as she reached for the crystal, afraid of what touching it would do. Muttering a prayer to whoever would hear her, she touched the crystal and it immediately burst forth with a pale blue fiery light that shot straight upwards into the pupil of the entity. Expecting it to flinch or recoil at the least, what she didn’t expect was for the blue light to snuff itself out before returning to the crystal, bathing it in an eerie dark blue glow.
At last, guided one
The words rumbled from the crystal and Sophie felt her whole world shake, like reality itself was tearing itself apart with every syllable.
You arrived far earlier than expected
Her body strained against the force pressing against her, her muscles grew sore as she threw what consciousness she had left into staying upright.
How feeble
It rumbled once more. At her breaking point, Sophie wobbled slightly before she noticed a small tentacle protruding out from a larger one. The muscly little appendage headed straight for her, and before she could utter more than a word in protest it gently tapped her on the head. What? Sophie had just enough time to think before she collapsed forward, unconscious.
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She awoke with a faint pain wracking her chest. Her recovery process halted by the orb that hung above. The eye that was larger than anything she had ever known, but still seemed to be focused only on her. She squirmed under its gaze and trembled as she pushed herself back up, reaching for the blue crystal. Something that seemed to delight the planet sized monster to no end.
A soothing chill licked her finger tips as she made contact once again and she found herself encased in the blue glow.
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Impressive, a quick recovery
The crystal rumbled, but this time more of a low hum that no longer slammed itself against her, though it still rattled her bones with every syllable.
Many would be forever tainted by the powers of the void in but a single touch
Sophie winced from the words, the length of its words still sapping the very will from her body. Noticing this the entity extended a tendril to envelop the crystal, shoving Sophie roughly aside as darkness descended without the blue glow. In moments, little cracks of light began slipping through the gaps from within the leathery tendril until it finally withdrew, a small metallic clattering all remained.
Where the crystal once stood, there was simply a small metal bracelet. Sophie cautiously inched forward, keeping one eye on the lingering stalks and tentacles that surrounded the tower before peering down at it. The metal was, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly blue. She had thought it would get turned into something, but for it to have been transmuted into a blue band barely the size of her wrist had been unexpected. She sucked in a small breath and took the band, eyeing it nervously before placing it on her wrist.
At once she felt a spike of pain shoot through her wrist and into her whole body. So potent was the sensation that her legs wobbled for a moment before she was forced onto her knees, her body threatening to convulse from the sensation. Fuck! She screamed internally, the first coherent thought that had passed through her head since she awakened.
“The comprehension mechanism still appears to be too potent.” Something said in a deep rumbling voice, each word almost echoing for seconds after as it spoke. Fighting through her pain, she trembled as she tried to stand back up, worried at being judged by the ancient abomination hanging above her.
“An understanding? That was quick. But it seems the error might be in the mechanism.” It paused as an eyestalk hovered eerily around her, “Ah, tis but the moment of adoption, worry not dear guide.” It spoke, ngh, but from where?
“The mechanism of course.”
Sophie finally felt the pain lift and stayed on her knees, taking ragged breaths in a desperate attempt to recover what little composure she could.
“Still so amusingly feeble.” Her new wristband chuckled. Taking a glance upwards she found the planetoid’s eyelids seem to have crinkled slightly, by the Goddess, it is the entity.
At the mention of the goddess she could feel a brief bout of malice radiate from the entity before it spoke again.
“So, thou comprehends?”
Yes, Sophie managed to think, her thoughts causing the giant entity to trill in that sickeningly familiar way that she remembered from before. Except this time she could hear it clearly, every little noise, squelch of muscles and horrific writhing of its tentacles as the entity expressed itself. A haunting visage that she tried desperately to forget.
“How very fascinating.” It trilled chillingly. Sophie tried to ignore the thought and just looked down at the bracelet, a dazed look on her face.
“Why…why me?” She whispered.
She could feel as the entity’s entire being shifted at the question, at the words she had just spoken like she was an exploding fireball. It recalled its tentacles and stalks until she found only one thing gazing back at her, the very eye of terror itself.
“Why indeed?” It trilled, the sounds of the entity interfering with the words from the bracelet, “Perhaps, thou could discover the answer thyself.” Sophie watched as a tentacle slithered up from the side of the tower and pointed towards what looked like a church within the town.
Fearful and still uncertain, Sophie headed back towards the stairway. Though she was away from the direct gaze of the entity, she couldn’t help but be unnerved at the presence that watched over her. The haunting feeling itched the back of her head as her steps echoed throughout the empty tower.
Stepping out into the town once again brought an uneasy chilly across her back. The silence that lingered as the entity simply watched her, only ever breaking the quietness with the squelching noises of its tentacles slithering throughout the streets. Occasionally, eye stalks would coil themselves around the rooftops and stare at her. The attention caused her more distress as she focused hard on clearer her mind, a feeble attempt to clear her head of readable thoughts that she knew was pointless in the face of such a creature, but its something.
Perhaps amused or more likely just uncaring, the entity made no comment towards her until she finally walked out beyond its shadow. The distance she traveled before seemed wholly insignificant as she panted from the exertion. What seemed like a nerve wracking walked turning into a hellish march ever forward under the eye of a creature beyond comprehension.
Guh…so…tired, she eked out a thought.
“Good training.” Her bracelet rumbled back.
That startled her in her mechanical walk, her pacing abruptly coming to a halt as she processed the message. Good…training? Was it for real? Training here? Wherever this place was?
“Indeed, thou art fairly feeble. Thus, one should train.”
A spark of something flickered to life within her, a mixture of defiance and fear. She glared down at her bracelet with a snarl, challenging it to fight. Her regret was immediate, but it was too late.
Dread filled her heart as the shadow of a giant elongated tendril stretched above her, the darkness growing more prominent with each second. Sparing a peek upwards, she found it quickly descending and drew what energy she had remaining and broke into a sprint.
Chaos roared to life as the tendril crushed the street behind her into a heap of rubble. Buildings, lights, pavement and all turned into demolished mess within seconds. The sickening crunch of buildings and the wave of displaced pressure rushing past her. She avoided the initial impact by darting into a street corner to catch her breath but her mind screamed in fear at the sight of the dark tendril lifting itself back off the ground. It’s headed this way!
Wasting no time she hopped back into the street and made a beeline for the church, the shadow looming overhead once more. She had almost made it to the last street across the church when something sent shivers down her spine. Screams, I hear screams. Her eyes shot up in a panic, taking the briefest of moments to scan the street for the source of the noise only for exhaustion and dizziness to start taking hold. Unfocused, she clambered forward just as the tendril landed once more. The wave of destructive force annihilating the city block behind her.
Cries of agony and despair filled the air before long. Screams of terror followed as others fled from the carnage. She pressed her back up against a street corner as the shadows of those suffering ran past her. Huh? Wasn’t…wasn’t this place empty? But her thoughts were quickly shoved away as the tentacle lumbered back up into the sky and she quickly made a mad dash for the church, the door slowly shutting in front of her.
Without thinking, she made one final dash and tumbled into the church, the white marble flooring thankfully not hurting her too much. But as she turned her gaze outwards she froze, people, I see people. Taking a quick glance around she found herself doing a double take as her brain finally caught up with her eyes. Countless breathless civilians cowered behind the pews, an armoured guardsmen and a priest taking positions near the doorway. Why are there people here? Wait! Wait! There are people here! You’re gonna crush them! She yelled at her bracelet, but the entity gave no response and she felt her heart drop.
Sophie clenched her eyes shut and awaited the impact, only for nothing to happen. Sneaking a tiny glance toward the door, she noticed the shadow of the tendril no longer hovering over the city streets and a wave of relief flooded through her, the message had gotten through after all.
“Your journey is not over yet.” Her bracelet chuckled, finally acknowledging her.
Huh? Sophie stared down in surprise, only to be distracted by the screams outside only growing louder. What’s going on? But aren’t there people-
“Get inside!” Someone yelled from just beyond the doorway. A dozen odd kids and teens sprinted past the doorway as whoever was on the other side dragged it shut themselves, much to the surprise of the guard and the priest.
“Mama…” A small girl whispered, from next to her causing her to look over.
The girl stared longingly at the door but looked strangely familiar. Sophie stared intensely and furrowed her brows in concentration making the little kid squirm as she noticed the attention. Two other kids, an older girl and a younger boy snatched her away, shooting Sophie displeased glares that warned her to stay away. It was only when the priest started preaching a sermon amidst the sounds of screams and fighting outside that church that the pieces finally clicked for her.
That kid, that...that was MIla, but then...if this is the church from my dreams, doesn’t everyone else in here end up dying? In shock she looked down at her bracelet. She swore the entity was smirking as it rumbled the next commands to her.
“Good deduction, feeble one. Now, survive.”