Vina stumbled across the boundary of the shimmering sphere onto soft blue grass. She lay there, gasping for air, fighting to stay awake. Fear gripped her when The Darkness stopped at the edge of where she had entered, but it did not paralyze her. The oppressive chasm of its missing vibrance felt smothering to her from this distance. It simply stood there silently, but she could feel all of its eyes on her.
When her stamina and blood bar had recovered enough, she selectively activated blood aid on the worst wounds the shadows had made on her body. The pain in her face slowly eased as she covered each one, but she didn’t want to see how bad the damage was until her ability had a chance to fully heal her. She lay back for the time being relishing the feeling of safety despite the oppressive figure standing not six feet away from her. When she finally sat up, The Darkness spoke to her.
“Vina”, it said in a high pitched voice which almost sounded childlike to her.
Anger flared in her heart, overcoming her fear “Shut the fuck up!” she shouted as she got to her feet and walked to the edge of the shimmering semicircle. She glared up into its six eyes, rage evident in her own. “You’re the source of all pain and suffering I have ever experienced in two different worlds! Shut the fuck up until I am ready to talk to you!” She turned her back on the thing and looked around.
The shimmering sphere was not large. At its diameter it was maybe a mere thirty feet. Vina watched for a moment as the spiked shadows landed on the shimmering, glowing perimeter. They slowly slid or tumbled down the smooth edges before floating away again. In the safety of the sphere, they reminded her of tiny sea urchins. Outside the sphere, more six eyed creatures began to gather around. None of them had a void of vibrance as deep as the thing that stood behind her though.
Off center from the illuminated circle that kept her safe, a woman knelt on her knees on a bed of grass. Vina approached her and also knelt down in front of her. Vina used Examine and a window appeared with a yellow border.
I am Trina
Trina held her hands out together in front of her in a gesture similar to begging. At her knees lay tattered clothing, long ago rotted away from the passage of time. Vina could see that Trina did not exactly have a gender that she could identify, because after all, Trina wasn’t like her.
Her face and skin were translucent, and her body was filled with purple, red, and white swirling energy that constantly moved about. To Vina, her body was a roughly feminine shaped container for power more than someone actually living. Her eyes were closed, but vibrance burned behind them like stars. Although her vibrance was strong, Vina could not sense her emotions. Her neck was bare, but she still had three differently colored opal stones bonded to her chest. Just like Trina’s body, the stones swirled with different colors. Despite the energies coursing through her body, she seemed like a statue.
Vina took a breath and whispered, “I found you.”
Personal Quest Completed: Find Trina You have been awarded 100,000 experience points.
Vina Level Up: You reached levels 14, 15, and 16 and have 9 more attribute points to allocate. Your agility has increased by 6, your dexterity has increased by 3 and your mastery has increased by 3. You have gained 30 health and 15 stamina. You have earned six class ability points. You have earned three skill specialization points.
Vina gave a weak chuckle, “Thanks. I’m going to need that.” She looked at the creatures continuing to amass around the spheric barrier. They had completely surrounded her by this point. She saw there was no chance of escape anymore. This time she also spotted a massive axe embedded in the soil. Ignoring them both for the moment, she turned back to Trina.
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“Trina, are you able to communicate with me?” Vina asked. She waited a moment and placed her own hands into Trina’s. Her hands were soft and surprisingly warm to her, but they were completely immovable. Trina’s vibrance was similar to her own, but there was a hint of difference that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Vina and Trina shared the same brightness that every paliternian had, but Vina sensed there was something more in Trina’s vibrance.
“What happened to you…?” Vina asked.
Trina didn’t make a movement or give any indication she knew that Vina was there.
“I’m going to assume you can hear me. I brought a couple of gifts for you”, she said. Vina pulled out a spare set of clothing from her backpack. “These clothes may not fit well, but it will keep that thing from leering at you”, she said softly. She slowly and carefully dressed Trina’s rock solid form, ensuring to cover her completely with a dress made in The City of Halos to the best of her ability before kneeling back down again.
“The next gift I have, I think, was stolen from you. A young girl used it to kill everyone in a city. She used it to hurt the memory of my mother. I hope what they say about you is true. I don’t want anyone to use it like that again”, Vina said.
Vina took out the Aspect of Memory from her backpack and held it in her hands, “I don’t know how to return it, so I’m going to do it like they do in the history books.” She held it out and offered it to Trina, but nothing happened. “That’s okay. The history books aren’t always right. Let’s try the old fashioned way.” She placed the blood red stone in one of Trina’s outstretched hands and smiled when it dissolved. Her blood sense flashed for a second and then faded. After a moment the stone reappeared on her chest, but its color had changed to lavender.
World Quest Updated: Return the stolen Aspects 1/127
Trina has granted you the Transcendent Memory Boon.
Vina felt something pop inside her head, but she couldn’t identify what had happened. “Uhm… ow? Okay… uh… Thank you for that.”
She took a steadying breath as she took out the Aspect of Life next. “This final gift is the hardest for me to let go. It is the only real connection I had to my father. I know that he would want you to have it back though. People tell me he spent every waking moment trying to find you. It’s only right that he be allowed to have his final wishes satisfied.” Her emotions threatened to get the best of her, so she moved quickly.
She reached out and placed the Aspect of Life into Trina’s hands and a moment later, it too dissolved. A completely transparent stone appeared next to the lavender one on her chest once more. This time Vina wasn’t told she had returned a stolen aspect, but she did get a different notification.
World Quest Updated: Destroy the fake Aspects. Fake Aspects remaining 321,426,432
Trina has granted you the Shan’s Desire - Enduring Blood Boon.
“So, you really did give it to him. You cared about him so much”, Vina said. She tried to force a smile and failed. Then she saw the tears running down Trina’s frozen face, and it was like permission was given to Vina herself. She couldn’t contain her tears any longer for the loss of a father she never knew, and they cried together for a long time.
When Vina couldn’t cry any more, she wiped her tears and used a part of her clothing to wipe Trina’s tears as well. She tried once again to force a smile, “What’s this boon? My dad’s desire? I don’t understand.” She shook her head. “Someday you’ll have to explain it to me.”
When Vina saw Trina was not yet done mourning Shan, she apologized, “I’m sorry, Trina. I just can’t cry for him anymore. There’s so much I still have to figure out.”
She looked around at the creatures surrounding the sphere. They had packed themselves in as far as she could see. The Darkness remained standing where it had been before. She stood and dusted herself off. “Excuse me. I need to talk to this thing.”
She walked over to The Darkness, stared deeply into its six eyes, and asked her first question, “Who the hell are you?”