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[JRPomazon]

Damn it.

Those two words summed up any and all feelings Jordan had to himself as he stood in the rubble.

Damn it.

Steel's words echoed in his mind, like a song that you just couldn't shake.

Damn it.

What did it all mean? What was the purpose of killing Khuffie? By removing one problem did he help place an even larger threat to everyone?

Damn it.


Everything had come to pass, just like the blind seer predicted. There was nothing here but the sad truth. This world had come undone at the seems.

Damn it.

Now what was left!? People had taken leave of their senses and started killing each other! Hell, he almost succumbed to the madness himself and a this moment was keeping it at bay in his mind!

Damn it.

He gripped his weapon as tightly as he could, almost as though he feared that his own blade would cut him. As if it too had succumbed to madness and wanted the blood of its master. What was there now? There were no allies, there were no enemies.

He shouted as loud as he could.

DAMN IT!

* * *

Did he regret this? Regret not being there to prevent something he should have had the foresight to see? Perhaps. There was a lot of things on his mind. Things to do and things to take care of. On a small ship crewed by dorm and alliance survivors alike, he watched the former capital burn to nothing. Such was the way of this world.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Amidst the rubble of Olimandias laid Ken scared out of his wits and lacking the will to move. For the longest time he was locked in himself, both aware and unaware of what was happening around him. The world as he knew it was no more, as hallucination and harsh reality preyed upon his maddened mind. Ken cowered with fright from the monstrocities that assaulted his will. One hallucination, an evil thing that looked like some demonic form of himself, seemed to strecth our from his sword and held a sword of its own to his neck, as though it meant to kill him.

But then, one of the other hallucinations began to make itself noticable.

. . . . . I . . . . .

. . . . I . . . I . . . .

. . . I . . I . . I . . .

. . . I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I a m. . .

. . . Y o u r k i n . . .

. . . I . . . a m y o u r s o u l . . .

With that, the hallucination drew a sword. In one broad slash, it destroyed all the other illusions that plagued him. As all the halucinations faded away, the one that saved Ken turned and looked to him. It looked like him, yet...

Ken soon found that he had the will to pull himself up. No longer in the shape of a wolf, he stood up, looking around and coming to grips with what was happening.

The world was coming to an end.

The world was being reborn.

Only one thing was left to do--leave the continent. No... before leaving the continent, he had to bring someone with him.

Ken turned his eyes to the horizon, in the general direction of where the fortress would be.

He would save her from the coming madness.

[Chikara Nadir]

ooc: More later. Sleep now.

The beginning of the end was well underway.

Friends were turning against friends, brothers against brothers choosing sides and splitting alliances. The kingdom of Khuffie had fallen, crushed into rubble by the joint efforts of several differing armies and entombing the short, illustrious, and infamous history of a man feared by many and loved by none. The land was soaked with blood, the sky devoid of even scavenger birds, and the air stifled by the heaviness of desperation and a foreboding so deep that gravity itself seemed to pull the dead and the living both down toward the ground more than ever, wishing to see the end of this battle and the burial of every soul in the land. It shuttered quietly, vibrating with the unspoken warnings of the planet -- the one true immortal among them -- move swiftly to escape or else surrender unto death like all the rest.

And as for Chikara, she had not yet truly begun.

In the blink of an eye the woman surveyed the damage of the kingdom from more vistas than many men might see in their lifetime, standing beside the fallen soldiers of dozens of dozens of tribes, hundreds of cities, and thousands of families. She knelt on the edge of clifftops and crumbling, smoldering citadels, smelt the embers of a hundred intentionally set wildfires, and walked along the beaches, allowing the foaming cocktail of saltwater and shed blood to lap up against her metal boots. Already a few fish had come ashore to mix with the bloated bodies of un-seaworthy soldiers, unable to compare to the Fortress' naval prowess. She stared with eyes devoid of emotion and lips unable to lose their smile, fondly looking upon these lands like they were her children, capable of so much if only they were willing to be molded in her own image.

For every place that she stopped in that barest of instances, and every breath that she took, a tiny seed was planted in her wake. The seed of darkness, most literal, as though the hem of her shadow were being torn off, piece by piece, though always enough remained for the shade at her feet to prove far larger than the size of her physique should allow.

Once satisfied that she had seen all that mattered in this fragile kingdom, the queen moved on to what she had always considered her chief duty-- caring for her people. Except for the few Labyrinth soldiers who were mindlessly gung-ho on hacking at the remainder of Khuffie's floundering troops, most who had chosen to ally themselves with Chikara had begun to at least look toward the south, curious of whether they should remain and wait for the queen's command or follow the tide of traveling souls. The tunnel-dwellers were weary and inundated with sweat and blood, but few decimated by so 'short' and 'easy' a battle as this was -- for it was beyond their nature to admit weakness, let alone defeat. They were among those who would see both the deepest of evil and the barest of miracles in this day.

Those who had followed Chikara out of the Labyrinth after the coup led by Selena accounted for roughly half of the ancient civilization's manpower. Of them, only a fraction had fallen today, as they had been protected by the city's walls until Khuffie's closest troops were called to duty against them -- and the very stones themselves had begun to fall and crush the unsuspecting. They had been buried like the king himself, and their bodies would remain here for all eternity as a reminder and a warning that the haughty must beware that they too might find their mighty empire gone in a day's time.

Of those of the Labyrinth who remained alive, a fraction thought for just a moment that they could see their queen out of the corner of their eye, arm outstretched toward the South. Those who had not completely forsaken the queen but chose to remain with Selena's troops out of necessity of guarding their home looked most confused of all, wondering why the maniacal leader was in their midst. A blink or a nod of the head and she was gone again. Yet they only needed to look at one another to hear confirmation, as another section of the soldiers had heard the command as a whisper in their ear, just louder than a distant breeze. Still another portion of the troops felt the need to leave here as instinct, the will to move away from this city synonymous with the will to survive. And those who remained of her people, who had not seen nor heard nor felt her request to escape, were those who were given the most powerful of images by their sworn leader.

These were the men who were shown a moment's vision of the future, imbued with the knowledge of exactly the circumstances under which they would last walk this earth, and thus vividly understood when and how they would die. Most stopped what they were doing and broke down in a fit of tears at such terrifying insights, and all went insane.

Satisfied with her work thus far, the living god returned her tangibly whole self to the city, passing by small groups of screaming men, slobbering as they rabidly attacked each other or else curled up in the fetal position against the ground, oblivious to their surroundings. She stepped briskly, silent as a feather but with a heaviness about her like the weight of all the worlds was accumulating in this one spot.

Oblivious to the small battles and death-moans around her, or else so used to them that the smell of war and blood was like oxygen, Chikara climbed up the far side of the rubble at the base of what had been Khuffie's palace, pushing aside house-sized boulders like she might flick aside ants. She pulled herself up higher and dug in deeper, intent to find something that was not hers, but certainly Lazu's. Beneath the debris, bleached white bones were waiting for her. Upon the skull's face, what could almost be considered a smile-- if only lips or any form of muscle were left to better identify such. Khuffie's true murderer, who had not even been alive to see the task completed, yet certainly finished it all the same. And with such relish, at that.

The woman quickly gathered the fallen bones, disenchanted of their spirit and ability to move. That would be easy enough to fix, if need be. A humerus here, a clavicle there, a handful of ribs and...why were the bones of the hands and feet so many, or those of the ear so small? Satisfied that she had not lost a one, as any good ruler of the Labyrinth was by default an expert at dissecting and appreciating the human body, Chikara began to dip them one by one into the ground. They disappeared under the rubble as though it were dark liquid, a full skeleton hidden away out of sight of this world for her to pull out again if the need for a decent soldier should arise again...literally.

Ever the girl, she slipped her gloved fingers through long strands of dark red hair, flipping it back over her shoulder and out of the way, taking a moment to look out over all of Olimandias one last time. Although hard to comprehend at first, Chikara now knew the scope of her current powers -- although she couldn't help but hope that they were still the tip of a very large and unconquerable iceberg. The gleeful giggles and deep guffaws of happy, insane souls trapped within her brain gave evidence of how pleased they were with current events. Now she knew how to satisfy their cravings for vengeance or perhaps just pure destruction once and for all, as the destruction of the entire lands of the Alliance were spoken to her by manic and unforgiving beings.

Chikara looked skyward, smiling up at into a hazy blue that did not care to look back at her. Just for a moment, from the brightness of the sun or the sting of ash, her eyes became damp, though she was quick to rub them against the soft-gloved palm of her hand. Finally she could turn her back on this cruel, beautiful world and make a new destiny for everyone who might survive the day. But that meant molding the lands anew and starting from the ravaged ground up.

Therefore the woman closed her eyes, dreaming in her mind of the perfect new world to come, took a step back, and allowed herself to collapse backward and into the jagged rocks and rubble. They welcomed her much too easily, her body slipping away into her own shadows once more. Once the darkness at her steed had disappeared with the loss of her physical form, the land was silent.

Those of her people who were blind with rage hesitated an instant, even in their insanity knowing something was amiss. The wind had ceased to churn the fires, the tides had pulled back from the shore, and the sun stared mercilessly, waiting.

And the ground began to shift and churn, bubbling in places like oil and sliding in others like a cloth being torn off an unfathomably large table. Across a mile of battlefield a crack grew, the ground torn asunder until it was no more than a giant, jagged mouth eager to swallow the dead. Somehow, on the opposite side of the nation two mountains had crushed against each other, avalanching snow and rock onto the fields below in threat of nearby herding villages.

And worst of all, the great civilizations of the nation were facing the brink of their own extinction. A jutting line of rocks had appeared in the middle of the grand forests, opening up a cut from so deep in the earth that it bled out great geysers of red, molten fire, brighter than the sun itself. While initially the heat made every tree within a mile wither, the woods themselves were soon aflame and spreading an inferno toward the nearby hills and fields.

The cracks did not only choose the Lost Woods to feed on, as evidenced by the pillars of steam across the beaches and into the tides. The already red waves glowed with the heart of fire beneath them, crashing great boiling waves against the bloody shoreline and sending a terrible, simmering wave out across the ocean itself. It was more than eager to swallow the indestructible Fortress whole.

In the drier reaches of the nation a week's journey away, reservoirs of shallow lakes had broken loose and began to wash clean the lower branches of empty ravines, once housing great rivers...and now, suddenly forced to house them again. Built on the cliff-faces and the edge of the plateau above, the homes on the canyon wall that had not fallen from the preceding earthquake were now engorged and ravaged by the teeming torrents.

Neither last nor least was the old, abandoned settlement of Kakariko, nestled not far from the foothills of the colliding mountains. Although few men had lived here for centuries, and there was little weeping to be done as the ruins collapsed into the ground like an undercooked, deflating cake, the emptiness below that the town sunk into was one of Chikara's greatest sacrifices. Thousands of miles of underground tunnels carved over thousands of years, darkness and depravity at their finest, grandest, and most fearsome. Memories of old kings past via ancient relics and reminders of their lives and deaths, more forms of weaponry housed in the Labyrinth armories than had ever seen the light of day in any above-ground army. Tons of liters of potent, syrupy alcohol drained out of cracked barrels and glasses as a final salute.

The nation churned slightly again from aftershocks, and continued to burn.

[DarkJuno]

With an even eerier then usual atmosphere, the Fortress stands amidst the mighty Lalvician Sea, its strong, ancient walls, further reinforced by the pirates that lay within, stand firm against the rougher then usual waves crashing upon its rocky ground. The now long covered island and some might believe the Fortress itself had beens tanding for a long time, long before the seadogs had ever even taken to sea, left behind by some long gone civilization for all anyone truly knew. Regardless of the countless wars and ransacking it had been through - albeit not for a long time ever since its current occupants took place - it still stood, defying time itself. Now more then ever with the enhancements it had been put through through the centuries from the pirates, long after this world would end, the fortress would stand. Certainly, it too would eventually fall into ruin, as the sea retakes and reclaims all it has birthed, but in the end, it would outlast any and all of its inhabitants or adversaries.

The Admiral cannot allow this.

Slowly, the large main harbor's door opens, its gears loudly ringing through the cavernous shipyard. The dock workers run about, ready to recieve the latest ship to return to the Fortress, and are slowly, one-by-one picking their ears up at the....odd noise that seemed to grow in intesity. It really wasn't loud, in actuality it was fairly quiet, but the....humming for lack of a better term was alien to the seafarers. In a sudden surge of artificial waves and in a flash of movement, a small craft flew in through the open doors, as the pirates look in amazement at the Admiral skidding atop the water to a stop. Through all these years, the Admiral had long done his best to avoid revealing too much to these pathetic primitive minds. Certainly, rumor swirled about the seas about him, but as with all rumors they were far too vague to really be trusted. The small little improvements he made to the miserable fleshbags lives here at the Fortress - the primitive electricity that powered the not-really-all-that-mysterious lights throughout all the buildings and streets for one - were easily explained as mere magic, with the cover of the slaves eternally turning the wheels several levels below as the source, their supposed magical runes tatooed onto their skin being nothing more then lies and deceit. The armor, the weaponry, and technology of the ships were all fine tuned to be as advanced as possible for the era of development that this current civilization had attained, at most nudging it slightly to give the already ferocious pirates even more of an edge against the other denziens of the world. All in all, he kept the vast majority of his knowledge to himself.

He didn't have time for that now, as he leaps off of the armored electric motored boat onto the worn wooden dock, his armor glinting in the sunlight. The Darksyde itself would have taken far too long to return to the Fortress, so he opted to scuttle his personal ship, ordering the crew to join the other pirates instead and using this hidden anachronistic craft to return. All the same, he ignores the pirates parting around him, all either stunned by the odd ship or fearing the more irritated looking then usual Admiral stomps his way thorugh the harbor, with a single minded intent. Long ago, he had found himself to be paranoid for instituting a number of extra improvements to the Fortress that the pirate denziens had no idea existed, though now it seems his foresightedness had come in handy. Making his way to a small two story building where all the harbor operations were manned, located by the water, he pushes the heavy oak door aside easily, and commands to the clerk in the office to move.

"Get out." Feebly, the man moves, scurrying away through the door, as the Admiral tears through the harbor master's office, pushing over a wooden shelf that had apparently not been securely clamped to the stone wall. Behind it was a strange, metallic panel, one the Admiral tears off and reaches into, knwoing exactly what was in there. Revealing his clawed hand, he pulls out......a small, silver object, with a cord that led back into the gaping maw in the wall. Reaching in with his other hand, an audible click is heard, as light eminates from the hole, and with a nod, the Admiral brings the small object to his mouth and speaks.

"Attention, pirates of the Forsaken Fortress..." If the pirates at the dock were perplexed by the new ship in the harbor, everybody else in the Fortress was now outright mystified by the sound of their Admiral coming from what seemed to be thin air.

"This is your Admiral speaking. Question not why or how you hear me, just heed my command as you always will. This Fortress is to be abandoned. Stay, and you will die. Take your belongings, go to your designated ships, and leave, everyone must be out within the day. That is all." Carelessly tossing the small silver object back into the hole, the man sighs, outwardly for once, as all around him the sounds of thousands of broken, obedient souls rush and swiftly move at his demands. The abandonment of the mighty fortress had begun.


******


A few hours later, half the fleet, from the mightiest war ships that had been left behidn to protect the homefront, to the smallest rickety merchent ships (dinghies, really) had already begun the mass exodus. Standing atop his great tower in the center of the fortress, the Admiral sits on hsi throne, for what would indeed be the last time. Outside his massive windows one could see the huge mass of ships of all varieties sailing out towards the horizon, south, as more in the various harbors and docks around the well protected island prepared for their turn to make their way out. There were certainly some rumblings amongst the many various pirates and rogues about why this was occuring, but none dared question the Admiral's orders. The sky had noticeably taken a turn for the worse now, though small inklings of blue could still be seen breaking through the darkness. Hope, the man sarcastically thinsk to himself, though noting that there was a shred of truth to his thought. The once grand meeting room was now stripped, only containing the curtains, chandelier and table, plus the throne itself, as the great map of the Lalvician was now gone, bearing isntead an empty, stone wall that shadows danced across every few minutes as the "magical" lights notably flickered. False or no, the Admiral had also ordered the so-called slaves supposedly powering the generators off as well, for some odd reason. The Fortress was now running on purely magic as its denziens might believe - in reality they were the emergency generators hidden deep beneath the base of the rocky island that still remained beneath the embattlement. SPeaking of which, it was time to....

"Admiral, sir! Preperations are complete, the Ax Elan is ready for you!" A rather bold udnerling had stepped through the conspicuously open oak doors leading into the meeting room, interrupting the pirate leader's thoughts. Normally he would have thrown a dart at the man's neck for his insolence, but now he failed to see the point. With the same cold personna as ever, the Admiral stands and replies,

"Hrmph, good. However, I am not coming. I am staying here....." His subordinate's eyes widens at the comment, though he knwos better then to question it. He continues,

"I need you and the crew to take it and sail as far south as possible. When you are in unchartered terrotory,t ake all my belongings and treasures and bury them. Bury them and scuttle the ship, use the lifeboats to reach your new home."

"....I....see. Very well sir." Still puzzled, the rather unkempt pirate nods and salutes, quickly backing out and runnign down the hallway, the echo of his boots fading as he disappears down the stone hall.

You really intend to do it, don't you.....

"Indeed." At that, the pirate lord stands and makes his way to the large open balcony, "This world is at an end. As such, so will the life of the fortress. Goddess or not, that little dingy wench has no idea what lies within the walls of this fortress, at least not in her early stage of godhood, and I will nto let what I have accumulated and learned fall into the hands of anyone else."

So you are going to use it. I must warn you, even I don't know if I can bring you back from that....

"Yes, you can, and you will. It is our agreement, and it shall be fulfilled. Or...."

....both of us will disappear forever. Hmph, it is almost a comedy, the two beings on this planet who despise each other through what has seems like eternity have their very fates linked, in life or...

"...death. We shall see." At that, the Admiral steps back to the area behind his throne and pushes at the stone wall. With a creak, it gives way, as he steps into his own secret tunnel, leading to a small, metallic room. With a grunt, he steps onto the platform, as the stone walls slides back into place, ithe interior of said door also a shimmering, mirror like surface fo metal. AUtomatically, the small "room" shudders, as it drops. The well hidden elevator makes its long descent down into the depths of the Fortress.


******


Now, as the sun has long set, the fortress is a firghtening ghost town. THe alst ship had elft hours ago, now beyond the horizon, as the electric lights begint o fail all over the pirates' former home. True to their name, nearly nothing remained in the large buildings save what could not be rbought along, though to their credit all the weapons, armor, and essentials had been taken.

Oh, all the alcohol as well.

The wind was now begining to whip up, as the waters raged around the Fortress, already the sea seeming to begin its reclamation of what it had birthed so long ago. Deep, deep within the bowels of the Fortress, down, a hundred feet or so beneath the base of the island it sat on, the Admiral stands, and just...stands. He stays there, pondering to himself as he is surrounded by...an odd assortment of items in the mediums ized room that had been designed almsot liek a museum. Glass cases with various clothing on dummies lined the long room, with various other items and trinkets neatly placed on tables and shelves, in pristine condition despite their wildy varying appearances. The room itself was made of marble and various other stone, and really did look like a place where one would show off history or other exhibits to the stuffy elite of the richest parts of the world. One by one, the Admiral begins tos lowly walk down the long hall, pausing at each and every case in thought.

The wide brimmed black hat on the dummy wearing a long black duster over a brown leather vest and cotton shirt, the shiny, shimmering six shooters still in the holsters.

The intricate, hand sewn tribal armor mixed of feathers and animal skins, expertly put together to create botha f earsome and regal appearance at once.

Armor, more extreme but also more flexible then that which he wore now, with a tightly shut helmet that gave an intimdiating look, down to the long flowing cape that came with it.

A royal, fancy ensemble of cloth and bone, armored in the right places but open due to the extreme heat it was used in.

Somewhat more primitive armor with exagerated musculature on its metal surface, meant for mobility and flexability in tune with the tactics of the time, a mix of gladiatorial brutality and high and mighty ruler.

Yet another set of armor, smaller then the earlier one but with the extremely, needlessly intricate clothing weaved into it, the symbols and designs envoking royalty on the battlefield.

Ancient clothing, also armored with probably the most intricate helmet of all, the snarling face plate only puntured by eye holes on the elegant frame of bamboo and steel.

On and on the Admiral went, musing as he passed and glanced at all the armor until he reaches the end of the long room, and stands before a large, bulky, and reflective device, looking innocent enough save for a alrge lever covered in a clear, glass-like case by a small keypad that glowed rather ominously.

So yet again it ends, my dear, to start over again...

"Indeed.....or will I?"

This again

"Yes. All the same, what choice do I.....we have. Until we conquer the world, our pact remains, for better or worse." Without hesitation, the Admiral punches in the code into the keypad, as the "glass" enclosure on the lever hisses open, revealing the foreboding looking device. Grasping the lever, the Admiral stops for a moment and ponders. After all this, would he truly wish to resume the eternal dance once more after all this? Provided that there was an after this anyway - the Admiral had logn ago sseen what this evil, despicable device could do, and for all of her power, coul the being really and truly return him to life afterwards?

I see I'm not the only onbe with doubts about the aftermath of using this

"Bah, but nothing. This must be done....that woman....." Indeed. After all this, perhaps the Admiral would take the tiny woman on her offer to meet again, albeit not in the friendly/subservient terms she had implied. Oh no, that short little bitch had ruined his plans, and had to pay. Ha, as if he could do anything like that to an immortal. Still, a goal is a goal....

I shall be there with you if that is what you wish. Unfortunately....

"Stuff it" At that, the Admiral pulls the lever, as the device hums to life, glowing and sounding a shrill, painful alarm that intensified by the second. Swallowing, the Pirate Lord steps back and straightens his stance. Still dressed in hsi damage armor, the Admiral still stands dignified, shutting his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. Whsipering, he states,

"For what it's worth, you have been quite possibly the biggest thorn in my side I have ever experienced." At that, he feels the warmth of the being's embrace from behind, as if from a lover, as she wraps her "arms" around his neck and chest, her "mouth" coming close to his ears and breathily whispering.

The same can be said of you. I shall see you on the other side...

"No. We shall remain on this side...." And.....





It was a horror, a terrible thing that the world had seen many times before int he distant past, and would certainly see again in the future, but in thsi time, this place, it is completely unheard of and out of place. The Fortress stands defiant in the face of the unnatural sea one minute, and in an instant, is engulfed in a flash of white hot light. Any poor soul who had been standing nearby would have been mercilly spared of any pain, being wiped out in an instant. Those from a distance who happend to have been looking in that direction would have been instantly blinded. The seas surrounding the flash of light evaporate instantly, as remnants of the fortress' mighty walls and the island it sits on are nowhere to be found. An enormous shockwave erupts from the explosion's epicenter, rocketing outwards for what would surely be hundreds of miles along the ocean, an explosion that had the power tenfold of the sun that burned brightly during the day. The eruption lights the night sky brighter than any harsh summer day on the sea, as any living creature in the waters around the fortress instantly evaporate like the water around them. The Fortress itself, the island would be no more if one were to journey here afterwards, though any fools to do so would mysteriously fall ill and die soon afterwards. For now, all that remains is the staggering column of a cloud rising high into the sky for thosuands of feet, mushrooming into a large cap that could be seen for quite a distance. No, it was not the power of gods or deities, but the power of man and other mortal beings harnassed into an equally terrible rage of hatred and war.

The age of the Forsaken Fortress and its Admiral was now over.




















































.............this is going to take some time.................

Edited by DarkJuno, 15 May 2009 - 10:24 AM.

[Crimson Lego]

After ordering the packing of the entire camp, Leo dismissed the senior officers of the Lost Woods. Slinging his axe on his back and grabbing his rifle, the dwarf took one look around at the survivors of the war. Many of them were covered in dust from the battle, and had grim looks on their faces. This is the end for us now, thought Leo. Already, the former comrades of each dorm were clasping hands, say words of luck then parting, perhaps forever. In a few months, the dwarf predicted that they would be fighting each other or reunited under a new entity: Chikara. Sighing, Leo began marching away from the city. A few loyal friends followed him, whom he accepted silently. He would need new companions for the future.

After getting about half a mile away from Olimandias, Leo turned to his companions. "I need whatever ammunition you have, now," he said quietly. All 3 of them nodded and placed their packs on the ground. As they rummaged through the bags, the dwarf pushed a round into his own weapon. Pulling back the slide, he stepped back and waited. When they found the ammo, Leo reached out and took the clips. Stuffing them into his pockets, the dwarf nodded in thanks.

"Let's go then."

-------------------------------------------

Soon, the 4 of them reached near the coast. On the shore were a few boats, with no crew. Glancing around, Leo turned to his friends.

"Take one of those and make your way to the Woods," said the dwarf quietly. "With any luck, you'll be able to find other survivors there, and find a place to hide." The senior of them nodded, and led the other 2 to one of the boats. Getting in, they began rowing from the shore. After waiting for a few minutes, Leo climbed into a boat of his own and laid down in it. Laying the rifle to one side, he closed his eyes, sleep beginning to overtake him. The sounds of the ocean began to fade away...

Edited by Leo Crimson, 15 May 2009 - 01:20 PM.

[Selena]

Selena started her evacuation of Olimandias with the eight hundred Labyrinth soldiers left alive under her command and roughly seven hundred warriors from Ikana. Her "horde" was rapidly taking on numbers as she moved south, toward the western pass of the Taj-Nar mountains. She had first come across Rhiannon's troop of five hundred men, sprinting across the open fields as the ran from an opening tear in the earth. Then she had found Wisp's larger band of a thousand soldiers, still holding formation and fighting off any Alliance forces in their way despite the chaos. That was three thousand Ikana-Labyrinth men and women, most of whom Selena felt as if she could trust. Then, perhaps twenty miles south of Khuffie's fallen city, Selena discovered a collection of warriors from the Lost Woods. After riding out to meet them, Selena discovered that they were led by Showsni, one of the forest's leading tacticians. Well, manpower was manpower. It didn't take much convincing to get his men to join her horde, given that the alternative was submitting to the will of that... 'woman.' And, despite her bitterness at Steel's sudden change in affiliation, she even accepted a few wayward pirates into her ranks. They had no chance of reaching the ocean at that point.

Her procession continued south, gathering civilians as they went. The Taj-Nar mountains grew steadily closer, towering snow-laden volcanoes in the far distance, beyond the black peaks that dominated the nearest half of the range. Selena took a deep breath, taking in the familiar scent of ash and brimstone. It was home. She was hesitant about going near the Labyrinth, given its affiliation with both Lazu and Chikara (if they could be separated). But the only pass through the Taj-Nar range she knew of ran very close to it. She's tried to adventure through it when she was younger, but had never made it all the way beyond the mountains. It was too cold, too windy, too dangerous. Chik - the original one, anyway - had scolded her for staying out so long in the blasted cold. Now she would have to brave it all the way across, regardless of the foul weather and towering heights. There had to be suitable ground on the other side. Selena could start her movement there. Chikara wouldn't care to move through the cold. Then again, with the ability to portal... Well, she would deal with that problem when and if it surfaced.

Selena moved off to the side, guiding her horse to a creek so that it could get some water. She stretched her back and neck, and then, out of the corner of her eye, saw the slightest bit of movement in the far east. "Rhia, do you have a scope on you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Can you tell what's moving east of here?"

A few moments of checking followed. "It looks like another group of survivors, Lenabena. They're heading to the mountains too, but... is there even a pass on the eastern side?"

"Maybe there is and I don't know about it," Selena said, then made a face. "And stop calling me that."

"Hey," somebody else said, drawing both their attention. "Did you just see Chikara?"

"Where?" Selena demanded.

"She was just... here! Then gone again!"

And it was then that at least one hundred Labyrinth soldiers gripped onto their heads and started bawling like infants, dropping to their knees or curling into fetal positions. What in the hell? Labyrinth people didn't cry. There was.... there was no crying in the Labyrinth! Selena began to angrily declare that to all those within earshot, but it did no good. A portion of those facing such panic attacks stood back up, limbs shaking and eyes wild. They grabbed onto their weapons, and like animals backed into a corner by several predators, they began to lash out at anything and anyone in their way. The madness spread like a virus, more of her people falling victim to the silent insanity. Selena held her spear in hand, ready to put the rabid warriors out of their misery, when her horse, who had been calmly drinking from the creek, reeled back and shrieked in horror. Selena gripped onto the reins and saddle as best she could simply to keep herself from falling off as her steed panicked. Selena looked down at the creek... and saw that it was now suddenly boiling.

Then, as her more levelheaded soldiers began to put down those who were insane, Selena heard a crack and rumble to the south. There were the distant ruins of Kakariko sinking into the ground. Kakariko was sinking? But the Labyrinth's main entrance was directly under... that bitch. She wouldn't. She couldn't. The Labyrinth was Chikara's home too! Selena's heart sank along with the village as it crumbled into the subterranean tunnels below. She turned her eyes back to the creek, and then spotted lines of red lava below the water. She slowly focused back on the sinking village and saw that the ground around it was also starting to crumble in. Conveniently, in the pattern of the Labyrinth's tunnels.

"Lenabena... we're above the Hakubi Road, aren't we?"

"...Yeah."

"We're kinda screwed."

"...Yeah."

Selena spurred her horse, and it ran off to the side, away from where the Hakubi Road should have been. With a mighty shout, Selena demanded that everyone follow immediately, and, given the circumstances, people ran nearly as swift as her horse did. From the distant village, that main subterranean 'road' began to fill in with dirt as the surface collapsed in, deforming the ground. The crumbling and quaking came at them like a not-yet-invented freight train, steam venting from the broken earth. Her formation got off the Hakubi Road and onto natural ground in a matter of moments, though those who were seriously lagging behind soon found themselves sucked into the collapsing earth, never to be seen again. Selena watched as the tunnels continued to cave in, lines drawn in the earth, exposing every secret underground passage after countless years of underworld privacy. The Hakubi Road from the village to Olimandias. The passages to Ikana through the canyons. The roads that ran by Van'Duras and the inner Alliance nations. The Labyrinth's tunnels were revealed for all to see. No more secret raids. No more mystery. That was the end of the Labyrinth.

Still in a state of shock, Selena continued on, moving beyond the wreckage of Kakariko and her beloved home... and continued on toward the snowy mountain pass further ahead. That... bitch was going to pay for taking away everything they both should have cared about.

[Chikara Nadir]

The lands of the alliance had lost their old glory, becoming something new and unnatural by the will of a literally earth-shattering cataclysm born of a god or a demon detached from most mortal bias or desire. The deity wished only for the world and all its creatures to be uprooted both from the security of what they had always known to be true and also from the very homes they'd owned for generations, even eons unto the dawn of written history. Never in their lifetimes would these men return, and it might be many more centuries before the bravest and most foolish of men chose to do so.

The great sharks of the Lalvican Sea who grew fat on the bodies of unsuspecting sailors in calm waters had taken a sudden migration to the south Eastern Ocean, their slower brethren washing against miles of shoreline, soft-skinned from the now boiling waters. Black swans who once flourished in the lakes and rivers north of Olimandias gathered as a cloud toward the Taj-Nar mountains, most destined to die from exposure to the cold, battering winds before making it halfway over the pass. The wild horses and antelope of Ur'Almen and Kakariko ran, crazed, into the mountains in search of a pass they had no right to know of, some of the first beasts to sense when something dangerous was afoot-- but now perhaps the last to have a way to escape it.

Valley rabbits had begun to attack the field-mice, rabidly foaming and oblivious to the caravans of displaced men and women attempting to escape the growing madness across the continent. Sundown would come within a couple hours' time, and with it a night surely lit from behind by the burning fires of the great Legends Alliance cities or, for those further to the north, the erupting mountains engulfing the Lost Woods.

To the civilians who had not been directly involved in the battles, and therefore only knew what was happening through word-of-mouth -- and then mostly gossip, it seemed that the end of the world had truly come. Local soothsayers and grandmothers alike were weeping and shouting how the transpiring events must make sense according to ancient descriptions by long-ignored prophets. Perhaps a few of them had actually seen this future in their dreams, but Chikara would never have believed them. She only would accept that this section of the planet was being molded according to her desires, right now, as they happened to come to mind. Chaos was not planned in advance, especially over centuries. It was born out of uncertainty as a celebration of confusion and fear. But those who survived, so long as they were still sane, should grow to appreciate their life and grow stronger from their experiences...at least the Loddie in her felt this should be so.

Sundown, hours in the making. And yet the shadows of man and horse, tree and mountain, stretched long and dim with the sun shaded by ash above and the light of the spreading fires at their back. On the other side of the creek Selena's motley group of survivors faced, a small spread of four poplar trees stood hovering over the water, which had only now begun to cool again. Steam rose up as though to invite the men into a still-simmering bath, probably the last hot water they'd see for quite some time.

Five long shadows rose up behind the poplar trees, battered lightly by warm winds. Five shadows behind four trees, and not another body, flora or fauna, to explain this.

Across the nations this anomaly continued. Around Olimandias, several more shadows silently waited on the ground, devoid of a solid body to move them. One hovered on the beach, disappearing every few seconds as a wave crashed up, one flickered in the firelight on the fields. They waited, they watched.

And then sundown came, two hours too early.

She hated how bright the sun was in the central city, loathed that it beat down on her and burned her. Chikara, at least in her former life, was filled with disdain for her betrayal and the woman who had forced her to call Olimandias home, that old dirty city so far from the age-old tunnels beneath Kakariko and Van'Duras. Now, for several minutes time, she could find her peace in a lightless sky, where only the Labyrinthine could see a few feet in front of their faces. The hearty warriors were still forced to stiffen their guard and ready their blood-stained weapons, whilst civilians wailed in emotional agony.

No, she could not steal the sun, at least not that she knew yet. The queen could do her best to make entire civilizations disappear, but the best she could do to the sky was take away the very light from it, forcing it into one of the great abysses she could conjure up at her fingertips. This was all still a game of pandaemonium to her, a test of her skills and an opportunity at loosing the demons which dwelt in most men's nightmares. Perhaps for some this only meant building more insanity, as warriors were brought to their wit's end and began to lash out around them into the darkness. But when the sky's purging abruptly ended and the light of waning day blinded one and all, their true demons began to rise.

The disembodied shadows had begun to move, and what was worse-- they had chosen to rise up in place of solid bodies. Limbs, long and slithery as snakes, had begun to tighten into black muscles, with high heads atop wide shoulders. They had no modesty, but also had features generally indistinguishable against their bodies-- it was hard to tell the dimensions of something that literally could not have any shadow, as it would only be the same tone as the rest of them. They walked, or glided, over the land slowly, slipping over rubble and through flame without hesitation or regret. Some surveyed the land quietly, others stopped and lingered around the bodies of the dead like dark angels come to release the souls of soldiers into their afterlives.

Finally, her shadow joined them on the battlefield, the harbinger of uncertainty and the last out of their group to have known this destiny was to come. As Chikara rose from the earth, slipping out of her own shadows like from black oil, she stared at the red tint taken on by the southern mountains from the distant glow of raging infernos. When she started to walk, so too did the the shadows. What was worse, they were joined by a hoard of an entirely new kind, hundreds more being rising up from the ground and slowly, sloppily trudging toward the snowy pass.

The bodies of the dead, some with limbs torn asunder and all coated red from the rain of blood, were mindlessly rising to join her army.






A thousand shrieks sounded from a thousand women, their slow walk suddenly a sprint as they raced across city and field away from the corpse soldiers, though they generally seemed more intent on following the pace of the goddess-queen and the shadow beings than on striking out against the living.

She, however, raced across the land on the tips of her toes with newfound adrenaline, her armor scraping bitterly at being forced to move so frantically, hair tangling in the wind. Now and then, a living being stood in her way. This didn't last, as her sword's blade whistled in glee at being freely swung. It might as well have been a machete cutting down defiant branches in the woods. And frankly, if the trees of humanity had grown too wild, some of their boughs deserved to be sliced away.

The undead soldiers continued to trudge forward, whilst the shadow soldiers finally got down to work.

From one shadow, the body of a grand, black axe appeared spontaneously from their hand. No normal man could have in life carried such a heavy weapon with one arm, nor so deftly sliced it through the air as they were beginning to do.

For another shadow the long arc of a bow was made visible, arrows made of twilight shooting high in the air and then descending again. Aimlessly, they fell into the crowds and unfortunately proved to be very solid. A graceful hand swept 'her' colorless hair to the side.

Worst of all, the shadow's individuality existed far beyond weapon choice. From one a long howl issued, while another giggled in girlish excitement. A thunderous war cry sounded from one as 'his' sword swung true, and a severe, demented cackle came from one as their dagger rushed to the necks and hearts of those who were too slow to realize their fate. One spoke the words of a prophet, arm raised high to the heavens to shout that the disbelievers were bound to fall, and like a plague the men before 'him' collapsed. The one standing in the grove of poplar trees flashed a somehow visible smile, shaking his head at Selena and chuckling in the voice of a man she would find familiar. 'He' preferred to look on at what had been in part caused by 'his' own hands, Keel's obedience to Lazu having sparked this fearsome turn in the revolution's course.

Why should he put forth more effort than that, when his dark peers were getting so much done on their own? Besides, even now she was visible on the horizon, heading the evening-hued soldiers and the hoard of soulless bodies. And she certainly wasn't telling whether they wanted to join in the battle, too.

[Selena]

Important Note: I have been convinced to leave the Chronicles open during the transition into the dorms, should any of you want to resolve any of your plot lines. However, please remember that you do NOT know which dorm you're getting into, so be cautious about setting yourself up incorrectly. The new dorm mods, however, may start transitioning. Lightly.

---


Selena and her band made it what had previously been Kakariko after roughly twenty more minutes of brisk marching. It was going to be awkward to get to the mountain pass with the Village in such shambles - most of the walkways had been destroyed - crumbled in on themselves or eaten up by the gaping crater that had formed with the collapse of the Labyrinth beneath it. Selena dismounted her horse. It was going to be impossible to take it up into the mountains given the state of the terrain. They'd all have to climb their way to the pass, or at least walk with great difficulty. That was troubling. They wouldn't be able to move heavy loads. Only what each person could carry on their feet. Given the average temperatures of the southern mountains, that was going to be quite the test. She fully expected a portion of her troops to die on the way over unless something fortunate happened.

She and the other leaders began to direct the survivors up to the pass, often having to give someone a boost due to the awkward land. After a few minutes, Selena found herself wandering to the edge of the Village crater, dust still rising up from the fresh collapse. The Village's buildings were crumpled and broken within, and below them she could see the outline of the stone walkway that served as the entrance of the Labyrinth, along with the immediate passageways beyond, all of them full of debris or dirt. There appeared to be no way inside, as soil had plugged the tunnels like fat clogged a fat man's arteries.

That had been her home for the last several centuries. That was where she had wandered in as a young woman, devoting the rest of her years to the Labyrinth's service. All that gone thanks to the person who had mentored her, who had always claimed she had loved the Labyrinth far more than Selena could have. There could have been any number of Loddies buried alive in there. Chikara had destroyed it all. Maybe it wasn't even "Chik" who was responsible. Maybe it was whatever was controlling her, and she'd soon realize what she had done, only to descend further into psychosis due to the guilt. In any case, Selena felt her lips curl into a snarl. Then a warning light went off in her brain, hairs standing up on her neck as she felt something approach. She turned her head to the left, back toward the open fields.

The dark goddess was no longer alone, a new undead and demonic army spreading out behind her to slaughter those who remained. But Chik was far ahead of them, racing toward Selena and the Labyrinth at an otherworldly speed. So much for escaping without further trouble.

Selena turned to the others and yelled, "If you want to live and keep all your limbs, you'll hurry the fuck up and starting moving up that mountain pass!"

Well, now what? A five second duel-to-the-death against LazuChik? She wasn't looking forward to it, despite all the anger she felt over the Labyrinth's collapse. Never the less, she grabbed her spear, readied it, and prepared herself. If nothing else, she could sidestep out of the way of Chik's 60 mph tackle and possibly get her to ram her head against the rocks.

[JRPomazon]

Lanasach, The City of Plentrich

He had been there for years, rotting away like a corpse in the humid summer heat as flies would circle around him. He was condemned by his fellow man for his crimes. On the night of the full moon in a small village by the sea, he murdered 100 men, women and children with his bare hands. When he was brought to justice in Plentrich, the only words he said in his defense were "It was easy". Instead of the sweet release of death, the judge sentenced him to live out the remainder of his life chained to the walls of a prison cell. And there, he stayed in the darkness. But where the madness and agony of such a fate would drive other men to the brink of sanity, he embraced his fate and waited. He would wait for moment when he would break from his shackles and crush the heads of those who placed him there.

As the advent of Lazu's goddess shook the former Alliance asunder, Plentrich was not pardoned from the upheaval of the earth itself. As the city slowly shifted and fell into itself, the sturdy and tested walls of his cell gave way to the new world that was being formed. They slowly crumbled away, brick by brick and the chains that had such a strong hold on him loosened. As light pierced the darkness he had been rotting in for years, he smiled as his pale green eyes adjusted themselves to bright rays. With his compromised strength, he broke free from his rusted shackled and walked from his cell. Today, he would be free.

His name is Solomon.

* * *
Lalvican Waters

Jordan and the crew of the small boat they had taken to leave the former capital of the Alliance. His destination was Sornaiid, or a small cabin by the mountains to be specific. He had to go there, to see someone. Rather, he had to take that someone and get her as far away from the continent as humanly possible. She wouldn't go easily, the idea of leaving her home for years and the memories that were there was not all too alluring. Sadly, this was not the time for diplomacy.

It would take many days to reach his destination, especially with how the world around him was drastically changing. The fires from the former Lost Woods could be seen even as far as where Jordan was standing, the smoke rose to the sky, creating a wall of sorts. The home of Leo Crimson, the place he fought with all his strength to protect was nothing more than ashes now. But what of Sornaiid? Had Jordan's home succumbed to a similar fate as well? He slowly moved to the side of the ship and looked to the sky. He did not have the luxury of just taking a leisurely cruise. He grabbed his spears and leaped into the air. With his power over the wind, he took his travels to the sky.

After that, Jordan of the Whirlwind Spear vanished.

[Crimson Lego]

The trees of the woods burned, the fires crackling in the wind. The screams of women and children echoed, as skeletons and soldiers of Lazu burned the forest to the ground, slaughtering any that got in their way...

Waking up from the nightmare, gasping, Leo realized he was sweating. Wiping his brow, he realized that the small boat had drifted off into the sea. Grabbing an oar, the dwarf turned around and was shocked by what he saw.

The Woods were burning. The nightmare was true.

From this distance, Leo could see the acrid black smoke rising into the sky, filling the sky with an ugliness of destruction. His friends had probably already reached the Woods and found the damage. Hopefully, they are evacuating as many people as possible. But in case they didn't...

Getting up and stretching, Leo settled back into the boat. Grabbing the oar, he began the long trip in the direction of his former home. I'll pick up a few things, then set out on another adventure.