CitW Endgame 2: Nightmares

[Pegasus]

End Game. Nightmares

Strange to know nothing, never to be sure
Of what is true or right or real,
But forced to qualify or so I feel,
Or Well, it does seem so:
Someone must know.


Strange to be ignorant of the way things work:
Their skill at finding what they need,
Their sense of shape, and punctual spread of seed,
And willingness to change;
Yes, it is strange,

Even to wear such knowledge - for our flesh
Surrounds us with its own decisions -
And yet spend all our life on imprecisions,
That when we start to die
Have no idea why.

~Phillip Larkin~

120th Ashan, 719. Midnight

The Moment.

But what difference can a number make? With all the power that we wield, why must I learn this? The worlds are mine to command and control, I shape and bend to my will, and my will is as Endless as I.

He spoke, and his creator looked down at him with disappointment.

Those who came here did so by a strange route. The combination of head and heart, a deal struck and an act of bravery. There they stood, the group of them, on a bridge. The bridge ~ spanning wide across open oceans ~ was in excellent repair. It was the very epitome of a well made and sturdy construction. Far, far below there were towns and cities, worlds and whims. Ships sailed on open ocean and battles raged, empires rose and fell as they breathed in

The wind whipped and whirled around them and there, across the gaping chasm was the Cathedral. The sky above swirled with thunder and lightning hit the boiling seas. Three bridges to the Cathedral were evident to them. One seemed inordinately thin - not so much a bridge as a means of practising balance. The other, more or less a 'normal' bridge. They approached, it seemed, from the left hand side - the other two bridges were to their right, the extra wide one furthest away.

Above them, the skies swirled and the dreams of Idalos were sucked in through the vortex which perched atop the Cathedral. It was beautiful and awful all at once.

Crossing the bridge was an easy walk. But they knew that they had to.

"You must cross," the voice that spoke was sombre, thoughtful. The being who spoke to them was a vaguely human shape, features indistinguishable as he ... or she... they seemed to be carved from stone and even as they spoke, no movement happened on their mouth. "My name is Stasis. I am with you as you wake the Twins. To save all mortals" Stasis seemed to be quite clear and very calm. "And me."

Whether they accepted Stasis' help or not, Stasis went with them. Never speaking, simply walking with minimal movement. Over the bridge to the Cathedral Door. It was massive, intricate and beautiful, but all the angles were sharp and it looked... cruel. Standing outside, casually leaning against the door, as though he had nothing else to do and nowhere else to be stood a man.

"Welcome travellers," he said, which was odd, because there was a gaping hole where his face should be. Lifting his tri-corn hat with a finger, he stood and smoothed down his long leather coat. "To the Cathedral of Dreams. The Twins sleep here, but there are rules. First one is that there is a price for entry." His voice was smooth, courteous. His movements were fluid and he seemed quite content. "And the price is one trial of your life. A trial where you and I swap places. You are the Door, and I am you. For one day. Sun up to sun down, exactly thirteen breaks. I will not kill anyone you would not kill, will not harm anyone you would not harm. I will eat food and drink alcohol. I will live. And for one, miserable trial, you will simply be to Keeper of the Doors"

He held out his hand, in which was a coin. "Take the coin. Take the deal. The door opens. Will you give one trial of your life to save the world?"

And somehow, without a face. He managed to smile.

I'll be watching you......

Objectives & Rules

Ok. This thread is: Ari'sora, Sephira, Amaris and Alistair.

!	Message from: MUST DO OBJECTIVES
	Cross the bridge, or do not. If you do not - then the thread ends here for you. Make the deal with the Door, or do not. If you do not, then you may stay here and talk with the Door. But without the Deal, you don't get through. If you take the deal - please assume that the door opens and you peer into what seems to be a very plush entrance hallway.

!	Message from: CAN DO OBJECTIVES
	None this round.

Dates & Deadlines

You need to post here by Monday 25th March. If you have not done so, you've missed the round. I will be locking the thread at that time.
I will post on Tuesday 26th March.

[Rei'sari]

Location: ---




She was wrong. There were monsters in the room, and as she stopped to grab the cat in the vague hope that having it might help the ribbon save Shadow somehow, they were upon her. Teeth and claws filled her vision, blocking everything else out. She was going to die. And strangely...she was okay with that. She had tried. Shadow's sacrifice had not been wasted. It just...hadn't been enough. As the teeth and claws closed in, Ari'sora closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen.

But the tearing pain never came. When she dared to open her eyes again, she found herself on a bridge of all places. Had there been a flash of light as she'd closed her eyes a trill before? She thought there might have been, but it was impossible to say now. Another oddity was that the importance of three seemed to be stuck in her head. Everything truly important seemed to be based on it. Time was divided into past, present, and future. Existence was divided into life, death, and the inbetween...something where ghosts lived. And so on. Everything was three, and three was important. Why was that?

"Shadow?" she called softly, her voice filled with hope.

But Shadow wasn't there. Nor was the ribbon she had been counting on to somehow bring her friend back. At first, she was crushed by devastating despair. She had failed Shadow. But when she realized that everything else she had had with her in the strange house was also missing, hope stirred. Maybe the ribbon hadn't been destroyed by her attempt to force it to bring Shadow back. She had, after all asked it to keep Shadow's soul safe until they were safe, and only then bring her back. So maybe this place...wherever it might be wasn't safe, and the magic ribbon was simply waiting until it was safe to bring Shadow back as she had asked. She had to believe that.

For now though, she looked around to try and get her bearings. The bridge itself looked strong, and sturdy. And that was a very good thing. Because when she looked down, she realized that they were impossibly high up. It looked as if there was an entire world spread out beneath them. Maybe even more than one. What would happen if she tried to fly down there? Would Shadow be waiting for her if she did?

"I'm glad I can fly." she muttered to herself.

It would be a very long way to fall if anyone was to stumble off of the bridge. She was quickly distracted by someone...or something that introduced themselves as Stasis and told them that they had to cross the bridge in order to save everyone, including Stasis. No pressure there. Still, with all of that on the line, who was Ari'sora to refuse, or to give in to the urge to explore the world below them? Ari'sora crossed the bridge.

Someone else was waiting for them at the door to the imposing looking cathedral. They explained that the Twins were sleeping within, and that there were rules, including a price to be paid for entry. A trial of her life. A single trial to be given to the...whatever he was in exchange for entrance to the cathedral and the chance to save...well...everyone. Ari'sora was certain that there was more to it than just that, but the person had said they wouldn't harm or kill anyone she wouldn't...and she wouldn't harm or kill anyone, so there was that. Was there really any other choice she could make?

"I'll take your deal." she said softly as she took the coin that he offered.

"Just please...try not to drink too much alcohol while you are in control of my body? I'm pregnant, and alcohol is bad for the baby."

When the door opened, she looked inside curiously, and saw what looked to be an entry way. A very rich, fancy looking one to be exact. She couldn't help but wonder what awaited them inside.

[Alistair]

A miracle came. Not only did he save Amaris, though he did not even know her name nor could he ever begin to... he found the shards; all of them that he could and they were cradled within his arms. Something told the mage that the shards he bore were of such importance that he could not dare to lose them, and all at once he felt his duties as a Lucis grip him. Alistair appeared on the other side confused him as the world dissipated and re-painted itself, and before he knew it the magister stood before a grand tower unlike anything he'd ever seen. Grander than even the Rubicund Court, Andar Castle, and even Fortress. Grander than the depths that must have been Sarkanis.

He clutched Amaris at his shoulder for a trill to ensure the mixed blood stayed with him through the transition. And Amaris did, Alistair smiling faintly at them before his eyes once again peered forward at the tower. He let the mixed blood go from his grasp, though he ensured Amaris did so with stability. He had never liked to fail his patients, nor to watch them suffer. Alistair would continue to keep an eye on them even as he made his decisions that were soon to come.

The man glanced at the others. The mage who he'd advised earlier not to cast, and yet the mage who had - likely - done so. The girl that angered Leigh with all her questions, a woman who despite all of Alistair's attempts had likely utilized arcana from within the dream.

He stepped forward, once and then more at a determined pace, until he met with the Keeper of the Door with nothing more than a stern and narrow gaze. He ignored Stasis, its words pouring in as ambience. Alistair's eyes set, now, only upon the Door and the man before it.

Travelers. The Twins. A Deal. A trial of his life.

He still had not the faintest clue as to what all of this meant; what had occurred. The Twins, the somnus of the mortals, the wheel that was spurred into motion.

"My life is included within the world," he began to reply. "So I will take your deal - but you ask for my body for a trial. Nothing more than my body, and no longer than a trial. My magic, as a result, may not be used by you as it is native to my soul rather than my form. And you may not do anything that would result in my detriment beyond that trial. If you accept my clarifications on the terms of this arrangement, then I will offer you these breaks of my life with which you may engage in lust, hedonism, alcohol and all the trivialities you seek. But--"

He paused, sighing. "Who are the twins, and why are they here?"

Whatever the answer was, once the deal had been accepted Alistair would step into the hallway... and though he remained vigilant, he would also step beyond.

[Max]

When Max opened her eyes she found her feet planted upon the stony edge of a bridge. She blinked, scanning the masses of towns and cities laying far below where she stood. An ocean rolled and roared with small vessels perched on its surface. Elsewhere, she could hear the distant echoes of combat far beyond her reach. Chaos. All of it below her, absolute chaos. It called to her in a sense. She found herself slowly leaning over. Wind whipped at her ridiculous pajamas, her dark hair swirling about her shoulders in an unruly fashion. After a couple trills she stepped back from the precipice toward the center of the bridge. Her head snapped skyward. Above was no better than below in terms of chaotic disarray. Perched above a distant, looming cathedral, she could see the vortex of dreams. It was like a blade run smoothly across a throat: beautiful and terrible to behold. Emea truly had become a mess.

It took her a bit to realize she wasn't alone. Amaris had evidently survived the encounter with the Nightmare, along with the man who had helped her slay the panther-like beast. Ari'sora was present, too. Despite the fact Max had used her deadly encounter with the Nightmares in that strange house to secure her own survival, this woman too defied the odds. Each had experienced different horrors to find themselves here. Some came by choice. Others came by chance. They were here now, staring down the length of the bridge that led to the bizarre Cathedral. According to the humanoid carved from stone, they were indeed meant to cross.

Wounded, mentally drained, and physically exhausted, Maxine looked toward their destination with an expression that was one beyond her arcs. She held Wyvern tightly in her grasp. Beatrice and Wyn were gone. The rainbow ribbon was in her other hand and the scissors in her pocket. With these strange, random items she was tasked with waking The Twins to "save all mortals." The fate of everyone partly rested on the shoulders of a selfish, murderous criminal. If she wasn't so fatigued, she might've laughed.

Step-by-step she willed herself onward with Stasis and the others. She crossed the bridge and arrived at the foot of the immaculate door. It cast a deep, intimidating shadow over her, and though it was just a door, it was one of the most menacing objects she'd laid her eyes upon as of late. For a bit she merely admired its commanding presence. Then her gaze fell to the man leaning so nonchalantly against it. The abysmal hole where his face should've been did nothing to cease anxieties. How could one trust a man whose expression they couldn't read?

A price for fucking entry. Of course.

There was always another damned hurdle. She wasn't sure why she was surprised at this point. This Nightmare had been, well, a fucking Nightmare. It was not yet done. Not one, but two slept in this Emean production. Her fist tightened over the ribbon. Max had no qualms about waking any dreamers up, and she'd happily do it in a way that was less than pleasant. Her fixation on the Twins, whose dreaming obviously forced her back here, waned when the faceless man began to explain his price. Her eyes tightened.

A trial of my fucking life? In my body?

Another instance wherein she didn't know whether to laugh or throw a fist. Her lifestyle was not a secure one. Maxine was reckless and impulsive. She made deals and double-crossed as she deemed fit. Her trials were numbered. Every one of them counted and meant something. She fought to see most trials, and to just give one away? To this...being? It was unthinkable. Until she thought about it. Until he explained that making the deal and walking through that door would save the world. It was a hell of a selling point. Except there was one problem.

I'm not here to save the fucking world.

"Deal then," she agreed begrudgingly, snatching the coin from his grasp. "One of my trials to do the thing. Fine." With her luck, the single trial he walked Idalos was more likely to be his hell. So many enemies walked the streets he'd never see coming. It was as mortally perilous for her as it was hilarious to consider. He never said when he might call upon her to pay up. Deals weren't always honored. There was even a good chance someone would prematurely end her life before he cashed in. That was even more amusing to entertain. The woman did what she could to brush off what she'd done in her own mind. The price paid was a high one.

The great door swung open with a grinding creak. Max flinched at the sudden movement, drawing the sword before her as though prepared to cut something down at a trill's notice. When the movement stopped and nothing launched through the opening, she eased her stance some. Her brown eyes peered within, and slowly, Maxine entered the plush entrance hallway.

Onto the next hurdle.

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Amaris]

Location: ---

When they had passed out, the assumption was that this would be all over. The consequences of what happened this world was unknown to them, but being awoken by the man in their group was not something they’d expected.Their hand - or where it once was - had been treated and the bleeding had been stopped. Fiver frantically hopped about before the trio disappeared,as they seemed to do often in this place.

Where they landed next was no better a place, they supposed. A bridge leading up to a foreboding cathedral of some sorts. Alistair kept them steady, still shaky on their feet. The jumped slightly at the voice that spoke to them next. Stasis, it was called. The name seemed fitting. Cross they must, so cross they did. They noted that they weren’t alone - Maxine was present and so was the other Avriel woman that had previously been in their group. There were others missing, though. The mixed blood wondered where they’d gone.

The wondering was short-lived as they came face to...face hole with someone appeared to be the gatekeeper to this place. There was a sense of urgency to this whole ordeal that made his proposal not seem so strange. A single trial for entry inside. It sounded...strange and unnecessary but his terms were quite clear. For the most part. But in the grand scheme of things - the need to save what could be understood as the entire world - a trial was nothing. And it wasn't like they lived a very exciting life.

“Yes,” came their agreement as they took the coin and walked forward, Fiver scampering after them. The others had either made their choice or were still deciding but the sooner they went in, the better.

“Is this a good idea?” There was more fear in Fiver’s voice than anything else.

“We won’t know until it is done.”

Amaris, Fiver

[Pegasus]

End Game. Nightmares

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

~Edgar Allan Poe~

120th Ashan, 719. Midnight

The Moment.

Ari'sora spoke, asking the Door to be careful with her body. It did not respond in any way to the half Avriel. To Alistair, however, the Door nodded. "No magic. Agreed." There was no other sound from the door, but then they were each holding a coin. The Door spoke, one more time. "You are the Path of Wands."

"It is this way" Stasis said. Except, he had changed. As they appeared inside the Cathedral, he stood next to them. He was a male, human - slightly long hair and he wore robes with mystical symbols on them. He wore a small, delicate silver circlet on his head and, although he physically looked to be in his early twenties at most, his eyes were filled with age and wisdom. They each had a coin, although Stasis did not. The coin had an image of a knight on horseback on one side, and a strange almost mystical symbol on the other.

The moment that they took the coin, they found themselves in a corridor. Bathed in a deep amber light, the passageway was long with high ceilings and tall windows.

Stasis led them down the corridor, walking them forward. After awhile they came to a pair of double doors, set into a large archway. Stasis opened the door, leading into an enormously long room. The room was huge, high ceilings and massive rafters. At the far end of the room was a man, in full plate armour. He was holding a sword, although not in a threatening manner - his shield had a symbol of a pentacle on it. There was a table, a long dining table which was prepared for a feast, although there was no food. In the middle of the table was a cauldron - the kind of thing in which soup would be served in a feast.

"Welcome travellers," he said. His voice was barely contained fury, yet it carried across the space between him and them. "To the Cathedral of Dreams. The Twins sleep here, but there are rules. The second rule is clear. I am in this room, my brother in the next. You must pass us both." His helmet was on the table and he looked at them, his dark eyes were furious. "And the price is Fire." He sheathed his sword and the fireplaces at either end of the room suddenly were filled with fires.

Stasis looked at them. "You need to make a sacrifice."Stasis was serious, almost sombre "You must sacrifice of Fire. Of passion and fury. Of what drives you, pushes you to action and adventure. Sacrifice impulsiveness and heart - and it is an individual sacrifice. Make what you need, pull it from the dreams." The Knight of Wands stood and watched them.

"But what you give here, you will give in the waking world."

They stood ~ Stasis stood with them, unmoving and anciently wise. And the Knight of Wands waited to see.

All the ancient knowledge lay
in pieces on the ground

Objectives & Rules

You all have a coin with a head on one side and a mystical symbol on the other.

!	Message from: MUST DO OBJECTIVES
	You must sacrifice something - you can simply "create" this out of the air. Your sacrifice may be representative, but if so it must be meaningful. Please make sure to explain in your post what you are sacrificing - exactly. You should place your sacrifice in the cauldron.

!	Message from: CAN DO OBJECTIVES
	Interact with Stasis. Stasis is a rather dour fellow.

Dates & Deadlines

I am so very sorry for the delay. We're back on track now. So, we're back to normal.
You need to post here by 14th April. If you have not done so, you've missed the round. I will be locking the thread at that time.
I will post on Monday 15th April.

[Rei'sari]

Location: ---


The fact that the Door didn't reassure her that he...it? That the Door wouldn't drink too much while using her body wasn't at all reassuring. She gave the Door a pensive look, but a deal was a deal, and she wasn't about to try to get out of it. Besides, she soon had far more to think about.

They were on something called the Path of Wands...whatever that was. It sounded vaguely familiar. Like something she had read about arcs ago. But what did it mean? Did it even mean anything at all? Or had it been something in one of the many fantasy books she had read as a child? She struggled to remember, and she finally realized that it had something to do with the tarot. But if she remembered right, the tarot had something to do with the future, and reading it, or predicting it. Or maybe...affecting it in some way? She wasn't certain. At the time, she had been certain that the only thing that existed in her future had been more of the endless work for Ren'zar that her present consisted of. As a result, she had soon lost interest in it. So all she really knew about the tarot was that it had something to do with the future, and it had four sides...suits...whatever. Wands, swords, pentacles, and...something. Water? Dreams? It was useless to try and remember something she had read so long ago when she hadn't been interested enough in it to pay much attention to it. Now, though...she wished that she had paid more attention to it. Maybe if she had, it would have told her something about the situation she found herself in now.

Stasis spoke, and as Ari'sora turned to look at him, he seemed to...change. Now he looked like what you might imagine a powerful magic user in any number of fantasy books to look like. Ari'sora had to quickly swallow the urge to ask him if he could conjure a tea cup and turn it into a turtle. Something in his expression warned her that he wouldn't appreciate questions like that...and she had no desire to risk his anger, and be turned into something unpleasant herself.

To distract herself, Ari'sora stared at the coin in her hand, examining it closely. It had the picture of a knight on horseback on one side. On the other, it had a strange symbol unlike anything she had ever seen before. Was it a rune of some kind? Or a letter in some unknown language? Did it mean something, or was it just a pretty picture? Ari'sora had a suspicion that it must mean something. Everything else in this strange world did, so why would this be any different?

The urge passed, and Ari'sora found that she had other, more pressing questions. Ones that Stasis probably knew the answers to...and might be willing to share some of those answers.

"You said that this is the path of wands...but what does that mean? What can you tell us about this place?"

She was quick to follow Stasis down the corridor, but she kept her eyes peeled, paying close attention to her surroundings. When they came to the double doors, and the long room behind them, she did the same. The room was huge, and impressive looking. There was a table with a cauldron in the middle, one you might expect to see soup served in. The table was set for a feast...but there was no food to be seen, and no soup in the cauldron. Nor were there people ready to take part in a feast.

There was one man, however. A terrifying looking one dressed in a full set of plate armor. He held both a sword and a shield...like the image she had seen on her coin. Was that supposed to mean something? Probably. As she continued to look around, she saw that the shield had a picture of a pentacle on it. Swords. Pentacles. And they were on the Path of Wands. Was there something about the man that represented the fourth part of the tarot, too? The one she couldn't remember? That though was quickly shoved to the back of her mind when she saw the fury in the man's eyes. This man was...dangerous.

He spoke, saying that the second rule of the cathedral of Dreams was that they had to pass both this man, and his brother in the next room. Were they supposed to fight him? Ari'sora didn't like her chances of surviving a fight with this scary looking man. But...no. The price was fire...whatever that meant.

Stasis spoke then, demanding a sacrifice of each of them. A sacrifice of fire. How did you make a sacrifice of fire? Several other things were demanded as well. Fury. Passion. Impulsiveness. Heart. And the thing that drove her. Anything sacrificed here would be sacrificed in the waking world as well. Was she supposed to sacrifice something of each thing he demanded, or was she supposed to choose one thing to sacrifice? Ari'sora didn't dare ask. Angering the man more than he was might well provoke him to attack...and she didn't know what would happen if Stasis was angered. Besides...asking for clarification might be taken as refusal to make the sacrifice. That wasn't something she was willing to risk.

So she stood in silence, thinking about what was being demanded in sacrifice, and what she had that might fulfill those demands. Fire...that was hard. She didn't have any fire. She knew how to start one, but she didn't think that that was what was being demanded here. So. Fire was energy, wasn't it? Should she sacrifice a part of her energy? What form would that take? Physical strength? No...maybe something more literal. Energy as in the thing that got her through each trial without needing to rest? It was something to consider, anyway.

Heart and passion were discarded as possibilities to sacrifice quickly. Ari'sora wasn't sure how to sacrifice passion, and the only thing she could think of for heart was her emotions. Her ability to feel...well...anything. And selfish or not, she didn't think she could sacrifice that. Not and continue to live afterwards. She would rather die.

The others, though...she thought she could work with those. Some of them, at least. So she began to concentrate on what she was willing to sacrifice. Ever so slowly, something began to form in her hand. It was a necklace made of molten metal, and it glowed a bright red with the heat of her energy.

"I sacrifice a portion of my energy." she began.

"No more than a quarter of it. This is the energy that gets me through the trial without needing to rest. Not physical strength, but...energy. This is to satisfy the demand of a sacrifice of fire because fire is a form of energy, and so is this."

She paused as she continued to focus on the necklace that was forming in her hand. Four charms appeared on the necklace. One was a cradle. The second was a nel. The third was a pair of hands that were clasped together. And the fourth was a perfect replica of the beast that had torn Shadow to shreds in front of her. The fourth charm was three times bigger than the other three. All four charms glowed a deep, sullen red.

"I add a sacrifice of fury to my sacrifice of fire. There are four pillars of fury in my heart. The first is for my mother who hated me for the simple fact of my existence, and that of who my father was...who hated me even though she loved my sister who was conceived of rape just as I was."

This "pillar" was represented by the cradle, and it's sullen glow flared briefly as she spoke of what it represented.

"The second is for the man who was my guardian. Ren'zar. He was the only "father" I ever knew since I never met my real father. But though he never had me branded and registered as a slave...that was all I was to him. He cared only for the work he could get out of me so that he wouldn't have to do it himself, or pay someone else to do it."

This time, it was the nel that flared briefly before she continued.

"The third is the fury I feel for my sister. My mother loved her when she hated me, despite the fact that neither of us were born by her willing choice. Ren'zar valued her for what he could get out of her at times...but she was his daughter. And he alternated between treating her like a tool to further his needs, and a precious daughter. I had to work hard for every scrap I got, but she got anything she wanted. And if she did something wrong, I was the one who was punished for it. All she had to do was say that I did it, and it was my fault. It didn't matter if I wasn't even in the same room, and couldn't possibly have done whatever had happened; it was my fault if she said it was."

The charm in the form of two clasped hands flared for a few trills longer than the other two had. While she loved her sister, she resented her just as much, and the fury she felt for her was deep.

"And the fourth pillar. It is the newest source of fury that I have, but also the strongest. Shadow is...was my friend."

And hopefully still was. She desperately hoped that when all of this was over, she would find Shadow waiting for her somewhere. Somehow.

"My first friend, and the one being I held closest in my heart. I met her in the Maze that was the start of all this. She meant...everything to me. Before we came to this cathedral, monsters killed her. She was trying to protect me, and they tore her apart in front of me. I couldn't...I couldn't do anything. I failed to protect her the way she tried to protect me. So the final pillar of fury is for the creatures that killed her. I hate them more than I have ever hated anything else."

The charm in the form of the beast that killed Shadow flared the brightest...and it didn't stop. Instead, its glow grew even brighter that the glow of the necklace itself. As she continued to focus on the necklace, a fifth charm appeared. It took the form of a bird's wing that had a lightning bolt across it. With this new addition, the large beast charm formed the center of the necklace, with two charms to either side of it.

"I add a sacrifice of impulsiveness to my sacrifice of fire and fury. I am half Avriel, and I possess the impulsiveness of my father's people in spades, and I offer a part of that now. Specifically, I sacrifice the impulsiveness that causes me to speak without thinking it through first."

On the surface, that might seem like a good thing to lose. A flaw, rather than an asset. But that same aspect of impulsiveness was what allowed her to speak to people who she was intimidated by, or afraid of. The people who if she thought about speaking to too carefully, better judgement would hold her silent even she needed to speak to them for some reason. So there was both good and bad to her sacrifice.

She turned her focus to the necklace once more. A sixth charm in the form of a heart appeared. This charm was just as big as the beast charm, but it glowed a beautiful deep purple, unlike the rest of the necklace.

"And finally, I sacrifice one of the forces that drive me. Since my own mother hated me while she was alive, I have craved love for as long as I can remember. Part of me seeks it constantly; love, and acceptance both. I do not sacrifice my ability to feel love, or the ability to treasure it if I find it. But I will sacrifice the driving force that causes me to look for it."

The necklace that represented her sacrifice was complete. Ari'sora hoped that it wouldn't count against her that she didn't sacrifice something that represented heart and passion as well as everything else. She looked around, uncertain of who she should give the necklace too. Should she give it to Stasis? Or to the terrifying looking man in armor? She wasn't at all certain she dared get too close to the latter of the two. So instead, she carefully placed the glowing necklace into the cauldron that almost seemed to be waiting for...something.

[Max]

Another deal had been struck. She fought the urge to grind her teeth together at the thought. No Nel to her name and somehow she was still in so many debts without demanding an ounce of wealth. She opened her palm to spy the coin granted to her in exchange for her agreed trial sacrificed. It was a strange thing and of a currency she'd never seen before. At face value, it meant little to her. All that mattered was that they'd gotten past the door and Stasis continued to lead the way. Whatever the Path, the marked woman didn't care. It just needed to bring her to those damned sleeping twins. They would rest no longer.

Rather than continue into the plush room they'd blinked into a corridor. "You know where we're going," Maxine's baleful voice rose from behind their dour guide as she came to stand beside the others. His appearance might've changed into a stoic, humanoid one less disturbing to behold. Her eyes were nonetheless glued sharply to his back. "You know what lies ahead. If you're here to help us, you'll warn us about what exactly lies ahead. No riddles." Nothing was straightforward in Emea. Events defied logic and the sentient beings she met along the way always gave her the run-around. The marked woman was hurt. She was tired. This bout had taken more out of her than The Maze ever had. She pushed on through the enormous room. Her stare moved from Stasis to the threatening presence that awaited their arrival.

Ah. You must be that next hurdle.

Maxine gripped Wyvern and rolled her shoulders back. A fight it would be then. She could have one last one in her. She had to. Such was her way. Her minacious eyes roved the knight, noting his armor, sword, and shield. The raven-haired woman wasn't nearly as adept with a saber as she was a gladius, but the errant thought left her undeterred. Max had made up her mind in that first house she'd been portaled into. No one and nothing was keeping her from seeing this Emean finish line. Somehow and some way she'd be victorious over this deeply advantaged adversary. Max took her first reckless step when the knight's furious voice boomed cross the dining table.

A price of fire?

She stopped her advance and tilted her head. The sword sheathed and the fireplaces came alive with a suddenness that nearly made her jump. She glanced over her shoulder at the others before looking to Stasis while he clarified the knight's demand. The more she listened, the angrier she became until her fury rivaled the Knight of Wand's patiently awaiting their choice. This wasn't a fight. This was another offering. They'd already given too much to the Cathedral of Dreams and now it demanded more.

"This is some bullshit," Max laughed darkly, looking up at the rafters. This ask was worth more than an arbitrary trial. The Knight of Wands called for the offering of something real and important to each of them. Something that burned and raged like the flames crackled boisterously to life in the fireplaces. Ari'sora stepped up with what appeared to be a necklace she'd conjured into her palm. Max watched incredulously as the woman made her gift to the Cathedral of Dreams. It was a high price to pay.

Involuntarily, her mind wandered while she watched the selfless act. It wandered deep, flipping through the past arc of her life and finding its vein without her consent. Everything that had happened stemmed from one place. The murders, betrayals, uprisings, and incarcerations had been connected by one thing that mattered deeply. A thing she'd given everything up for. Her free hand balled into a fist. Stasis's words had hit a mental trigger. She felt the expectant gazes of the somber guide and menacing gatekeeper upon her. Her subconscious brought what it knew was being asked for to the surface. Feeling something in her hand, she turned it over and uncurled her fingers. A gold ring rested in palm.

"No!" Max growled, wide-eyed as her fingers curled shut on the conjured band. She paced away from the others, away from Stasis into the center of the room. She caught sight of the cauldron in her peripheral vision and her fist tightened protectively over the item it guarded. Her lip curled. "No. No, no, no. Fuck this." The room was enormous but suddenly it felt so suffocating. Now she addressed everyone in the room, gesturing toward her compatriots from reality. "Haven't we fucking given you enough? Haven't you fucking taken enough from us?" She raised her fist toward the Knight of Wands. "This? No. This you can't fucking have. I'll fight you. I'll fight your brother, too. But this?" She lowered her hand, face contorted with rage and pain. "This you cannot have."

In fucking fact. You'll have nothing.

Maxine stormed toward the cauldron. She planted herself just the right distance away. She began to lift her knee so that she might knock the damned thing over, spill free what it had stolen and prevent it from accepting more. Realization stopped her. Her fist shook and she stared down at the cauldron. Her fury broke and she turned her head away, grief cracking through her expression as she extended her hand and opened her fist. The gold ring fell from her grasp into the cauldron. Her offering had been made: the only person she thought she might ever love.

For him she had betrayed her mercenary company, killing coworkers and stealing from their bosses. She let him strike her with a stone to sell the lie she fed The Kennel. She became complicit in his sins first out of fear and then out of affection. An affection that lost her any future mercenary contract in Scalvoris. She chose him over the first place she ever called home and the few things that ever belonged to her. For him, she was banished from Almund and labeled an enemy of The Raven. When his voice brought the people to follow along with her riot against the Elements, she took the extra time in Level Seven of Slags Deep so he might see freedom.

The toxicity of their relationship had kept her on her destined path of self-destruction. It had saved her too. Without him she never would've made in The Beneath. He'd shown up when she needed him most. He helped her grow so she might survive in that darkness alone. When the opportunity to escape had come knocking, Maxine had hastily answered. For all that they'd been through, all she'd lost, she left him there to die. Maxine had never forgiven herself for that. Rynmere had proven that still deeply haunted her. She'd a thought to rescue him, to find him in Slags Deep and drag him to the freedom they were supposed to see together. Maxine had been given one last choice here instead. Mercedes or the rest of the world. She'd made her choice.

With a distant gaze and expression as stoic as Stasis, Maxine retreated from the cauldron quietly to stand again with the others. She'd fully retreated into herself. The Cathedral had become a place merely beyond the veil of her inner turmoil, too far to reach. But someone beyond this room with the Knight of Wands could reach her.

"Ask them if they know of a blind girl with cards, Max."

By now she knew Sephira Blackwood's voice anywhere. Relief was but a fleeting emotion quickly replaced by rekindled determination. The Special Assistant's request reminded her that, in a sense, there was yet another mission to be complete under Kura's guidance. She wasn't sure how the Element had managed to reach her with her voice. It didn't really matter. What she asked would be done. Maxine's reverie broke and her head snapped up, fiery focus returning to her harsh stare as she looked to the others in the room.

"Which of you knows about a blind girl with cards?" the marked woman asked of the other occupants sharing the room. The cutting edge of her tone suggested it was anything but an amicable request, but loaded with the expectation of an answer. Her loss had not been completely forgotten either. The fury and grief she bore was hardly restrained in her tight words. "And what do you know about her? Don't waste my time."

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Alistair]

So the creature agreed not to utilize his magic. That, to Alistair, was enough and he stepped forward contentedly. When they entered the Cathedral, the same odd voice that spoke to them appeared tangibly as a human man, one with fairly lengthy hair and scholarly robes. He had a circlet on and carried with him a sort of regal eminence that suited an ancient mage, like some of the ones Alistair had surrounded himself with for a long time. It is this way, he advised. Though Alistair still did not know what the 'Path of Wands' was, or even what they were trying to do. It was laughable to him that despite all of this time endeavoring forward, he still was entirely clueless.

"What are we trying to do?" he asked. "I questioned the... the door, and it did not tell me. Who are the twins, Stasis, and why are we here?"

Whether or not his questions or rather a series of them were answered, Alistair accepted the coin and the corridor evolved around him. He followed through, forward, with the castle-like windows in view and an end of large double doors. It reminded him of the Rubicund Court, though with an ominous grandiosity rather than the garden beauty he was familiar with. They stepped forward and to the doors, and Stasis opened them. Alistair was introduced to yet another room, alongside the others. All of them, now, he recognized - yet they did not speak a word to one another.

What appeared before them in the next room was strange. It was as if pulled from one of Rynmere's knightly tales, and Alistair had to remind himself that he was in a dream after all. None of this, he remembered, was reflective of Idalos. Though he wondered why the tropes and archetypes that existed in the physical world would shine so clearly in the dream; knights, scholarly men, sacrifice. Did their world mirror Emea, or was it the other way around? Was Emea not a collection of the thoughts of all dreamers?

My brother, the Knight referred to. Alistair blinked, as he spoke of the rules and the price and... fire. The mage, tired of all of these strange riddles and these tests that sought to wear him down, was tempted to jeer and state that he had no fire to give. But instead, he simply nodded.

A sacrifice. Passion and fury, what drove him -- pushed him to action and adventure. Something deeply rooted to his psychology, rather than a whim that he'd crafted merely to satisfy the strange Knight. There were so many things that drove him, though, and Alistair could only reflect. What brought him to action and adventure? Was it his ambition to become King of Rynmere? To free the mages from their oppression? Was it his love for Fridgar and Zarik, and all the rest? Did the wording matter, or did this ornamented figure seek anything so long as it was of import to him?

Passion. He had a lot of it - always too much, perhaps for his own good. Alistair danced relentlessly with his affections for others until he met the bitter end of his deeds, and harmed himself and the others around him. He almost wished that he could sacrifice such feelings of themselves, but to do so would do more than cull his feel for action and adventure, but his entire identity.

He knew, though, that he was driven by one thing. And this thing - though it drove him for arcs and would continue to do so - he would sacrifice freely. Alistair smiled faintly as he conjured a tome from the dreams, one that detailed his life in the Coven and its many operations; Ellasin and her weaknesses, the state of Lichdom and the ritual necessary to undergo the transformation. Symbology, thralldom, Stonehearts, Rot Knights, Legion, Plaguemen--

All the rest. Every secret that followed a Lich through the afterlife. Every story told to him by the matron he reviled and adored. And with it, a symbol of one thing that had driven Alistair for arcs: his vengeance towards her. His desire to kill her above all else, the thing that had made him into what he was now, a twisted amalgamation of magic with no comparison. The most powerful mage in the world, perhaps, but only for the sake of bringing death unto his rival.

"I sacrifice my vengeance towards Ellasin Dathlande, Matriarch of the Coven," he said, and Alistair closed his eyes as he tossed the tome into the cauldron. He opened them shortly after, however, only to watch the book melt within the burning broth.

"It is this that has driven me to become what I am. Action, adventure? I never sought anything but the decadent rule that I was born to achieve, until I came to believe that she was the darkness of our world; that she needed to be eradicated above all, and that I was the savior required to fulfill such a task. When Ralaith brought me to meet her as a child, and utilized her as a cautionary tale, I wholly believed that she and I were entwined by fate. But it is a tiring specter to haunt a man's life, to hunt a being that can never die. To chase after pain and threaten the ones he loves. Though this desire drives me and has made me the mage that I am, I sacrifice it willingly."

And so it was done, and gone. And strangely - all too strangely - he felt that desire within him recede, and within him opened a bleak void that he could only hope to fill.

[Amaris]

Location: ---

A sacrifice. The next thing required of them was a sacrifice, and Amaris was unsure of what that was. What drove them. Perhaps they had, at some point, time to think on what had motivated them to do the things they did. The mixed blood had never found the source. They watched as the others made their sacrifice, all of some importance. Even Max, who had at first been resistant to the idea. A sacrifice of fury and passion. But they had never been angry with anyone other than themselves before out of anything other than childish antics. They wondered if any sacrifice they made would compare to what had already been given.

But there it was. Comparing, once more. An excuse to avoid doing something. They hid behind those often. That someone would know better, do better, be better. Eyes shut, Amaris considered their situation. A sacrifice would be a sacrifice regardless of what it was. But they couldn’t just give something trivial away. Or what would be perceived as trivial to themselves. They opened their eyes once more, aware that they were the last give up something.

“Anything, right? I can give up anything?” They knew the answer, bt they asked Stasis all the same. It was meant to delay the inevitable, to give them more time to think. Because there, right alongside them, was the fear that what they had come up with would not be enough. That they would fall short and this hole thing would end badly on account of their incompetence. Like everything else they’d done. Fiver was quiet; perhaps he thought he was on the menu to be sacrificed.

Their approach to the cauldron was slow, still not quite as steady on their feet as they would wish to be. They couldn’t feel their left hand. It would have done them some good to think of how they would make this sacrifice. It was, essentially, a part of them. Not physical, but still them all the same. In the back of their mind, they thought of where they retreated most. The comfort of home. When they had met Volker on at trial in Cylus, they had used their home as a hiding space when he had left. They’d condemned themselves to it. After the events of the ice caves of Ishallr, they had turned to the safety of a place they knew well.

They could recall the fine details of the wooden structure they would use to shelter themselves from the snow and rain. The pleasant warmth of a fire pit and the voices that drifted around it. The faces that assured them that all would be well - when really, there was no knowing of what it would be. The mixed blood swallowed, right hand closed around the growing sprig of amaryllis blooming in their palm. The white hare hopped beside them, eyes wide and nose working. The mild notes of the flower’s fragrance would unnoticed to all but Fiver.

The two had come to a stop at the cauldron. The amaryllis bloom in their hand had grown large enough that petals poked out between their fingers. Taking a deep breath, the held the flower over the cauldron as they began their explanation. “I sacrifice my cowardice. I...want to say I had gotten over it, gotten better, but that would be lying. And Mother says it’s not good to lie. Too long I have hid behind excuses and regretted not doing more because I was afraid and certain of failure. But it’s not fear I wish to give up; it’s this ridiculous notion that I would allow my fears to stop me from doing what is right.” Were they loud enough? Had they been heard? They couldn’t hear much of what they’d even said beyond the pounding of their own heart in their ears.

Fiver nudged at their leg and they dropped the flower, watching the flames devour it for a moment before turning back to the others in the room. Done was their sacrifice. “Amaryllis. My mother said that she’d misspoke when naming me and that was to be my name, but she’d liked the way Amaris sounded much more.” As if they’d needed to give an explanation. Did they need to? Regardless, they stepped further away from the cauldron, glancing back at once more. They didn’t feel different, but they knew. They knew that they were.

Amaris, Fiver