Estylwen

Iris Ascendis

Eyyy! :> For the record, I didn't know Ciara's move until 99.8% of the post was complete.

@Sifr, lighting fast post! :o

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Girls' Dorm
@Nanaya @Psyker Landshark @Sifr

---

H̶̥̲̻̬̆u̵̡̻̭͔͓̬̯͖̬̝̓̄́͌̉̚n̵̨͙̙̱̦͇̪̯̦͑ģ̴͕͚̘͔͍̮̥̬̖̈́́͛ȩ̸̧̯̑͛͠͝r̸̩͎̬͚̜̯̎͑͛̀̈́̊̔.̸̬̤̺̲̄̈̿̚ͅ

.
.
.

She stared in horror at the monstrosity written across the scroll. It was as if the pen tried to give life to the depths of the hidden, darkest corner of her mind, scribbling out the word in a perfect, scrawling mess. The knock, in an analogy's sense, had woken up the demons of the house and enticed them to play.

"Miss Ventura, do tell, within your own comforts, what your intentions are." Said the Undermage, sharpness in her words.

"This is bad. This is really bad." Ciara thought, looking for a way out of this mess.

There was a scoff somewhere in her head. "Relax. Don't you prefer it when they look at you in fear than pity?"

Flashes of faces seeing the poor orphan girl on the street, begging for coins.

Ciara gritted her teeth. "I hate both."

"My, my, does princess want to throw a ball while she's at it? You don't get to choose what you want in this world."

"I have as much choice as anyone else."

"Look at their expressions and tell me that. Be honest with yourself, little Hunger."

She stared at the Undermage, Iraleth, and Hildegunde, all in turn. She had never felt so exposed. The monster was supposed to be under lock and key. That's how she lived her life after she got dumped on the doorstep of her first orphanage. The monster wasn't supposed to surface, ever.

Alas, things never went in her direction. She had been found out repeatedly, in how she spoke to the Voices when she was younger, in how she eradicated plant essence. It caused her caretakers to shun her at every turn, and she had to carve out a future for herself, leaving the orphanages altogether.

This would be no different.

At the futility of trying to hide who she was, a slow, bleak chuckle emanated from Ciara's form.

"What my intentions are, Head Advisor...?" She said softly.

"Will you hide your Hunger, little one?" A Voice rasped in her head.

"I want to be here. They will throw me out if they know the truth."

"Or not."

"A million times I have done this charade. The moment people figure it out, I get the boot."

"But don't you want to see the fear in their eyes when they see who you really are...?"

Ciara was silent at that.

"Don't you want dominion of this place, just like how you were unchallenged in Vaal Kastrix?"

Ciara scoffed, immediately thinking of Gulliver and Valen. "I'd love to wipe the smirk off their faces."

"It starts by building a rumor. A rumor of power. This could be the place to start."

"We're not doing that."

"But you want to. I'm merely suggesting your own thoughts, little Hunger."

She swallowed painfully. What would she do? The Voices had more sway over her than normal, all due to the secondary emotion filling her stomach.

Dread.

Beyond her burning hunger, the thought of even being slightly exposed brought an overwhelming sense of dread, written hastily on the scroll. She considered simply walking out and sleeping on the roof of the dormitories for the rest of the year. But alas, she imagined the winter months were cold.

No. She couldn't walk away from this one.

She took a deep breath, narrowing her eyes resolutely at the Undermage. "Head Advisor, with all due respect, you have no right to ask me about my intentions. If you want answers..."

She stood from her seat, rising to her full height.

"You'll have to duel me for them."

The Dark Beyond

Sounds good! That does sound fun yet tiring. I can't wait!

The Dark Beyond

Hehe, here we go! New post is up!

The Dark Beyond

Underwater Cave, Crypt

@Lexisheeps, @WhiteAngel25

---

"Where'd you find your mask at?"

She stared up at him sheepishly as Stella set her down. The mask was clutched in her pocket defensively. "I... When I was traveling around dark corridors, I saw a room filled ceiling to floor with-- Arrrgh!"

Her knees buckled as the white ring around her neck activated, sending a convulsing shock through her body. She tried to speak, or at least finish her sentence, but would receive more shocks that inhibited her ability to speak without crying out in pain.

Finally, gasping for air, she staggered back to her feet. "I didn't find it here." Her eyes were wide, trying to convey some sort of meaning beyond what she could actually speak.

At Nick's suggestion to trade him his puppy for her mask, she stared hard at the small wolf. Uncertainty painted her expression as her clash with the pup's mother replayed behind her eyes. She gave the mask a squeeze, teetering on making a decision. Nick would have to say something to sweeten the deal.

"Maybe if you trade me, I can see why the man and his orb feels sad, yeah?"

At that, her eyes lit up, and she willingly offered the mask to Nick, a huge smile on her face. "Would you really? Oh, that would mean so much to me! You don't know how much I've wanted to help him. I just... don't know how to."

"Nick, I don't think you need to trade your new pet. Look at this. There are a few dozen of them within a ten-meter radius,"

Indeed, Stella's eyes proved fortuitous. There were some masks similar to the one in Subject #3's possession, but with a chipped face, and different stylized lines. If she tried to 'activate' any one of these masks, it was similar to activating an augmentation. One would simply just have to think about it willfully.

All of the masks in this crypt appeared to have the same power, strangely enough. Upon activation, dark ice crystals would grow out from the mask, slowly enveloping anything it touched in a frighteningly icy grip. Although the power differed from Subject #3's mask, the dark ice power could prove useful.

"That's because it's a memory AI. Someone preserved their consciences in that orb."

"So... like a spirit?" Subject #3 asked, eyes bulging, trying to consider the mind-boggling process of having one's essence encoded forever.

She turned to Nick, arms outstretched as she held her breath. She waited for her new pet puppy.

"Don't bite me, Ivaylo..." She said tentatively, forgetting all about her traded mask.

If the path to the right was explored, Nick and Stella would find the eroded stairs circling down many levels before opening up into a large cavern. The heat would increasingly rise on the descent until they made it to the bottom floor of the crypt in the dark energy-created cave at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

Before their eyes, Nick and Stella would see a floor ringed with several rivers of molten lava, cris-crossing across dark patches of volcanic stone. On the far side of the room, beyond the rivers, was a pedestal with a small sculpture on it. Stella's eyes would be able to pick up that the shape of the scultupre's base matched that of the dust markings on one side of the bones that the orb hovered over.

The way to the sculpture was nearly impossible. The rivers were too wide to simply jump across, and dangerously hot to even consider wading through. However, the walls seemed cool and reliable. Perhaps another way that guaranteed everyone's safety could be found...

The Dark Beyond

Yep! The direct translation is "I miss them."

The Dark Beyond

@Lexisheeps Yes, go for it! If you need clarification on anything, just let me know!

The Dark Beyond

Sifting through strange objects in the dark is enough to make anyone go a little crazy. But alas - new post is up! What a quick round, I'm impressed. Let's keep up the momentum!

The Dark Beyond

HiveMind Head Quarters

---

"Sir?" the assistant spoke, a tremor in her voice. "Nick has gone rogue."

There was a deep chuckle as the lead researcher responded. "Good."

"Good, sir?"

"Yes. A bit earlier than planned, but I couldn't ask for a better outcome. Our little Contractor will provide the results we want, the outcome we need, better like this. I want as minimal interference as possible until the time is right."

"Yes. sir."

"Sir?" Another voice. "A report on codename 'Stella' is complete."

"Let me see." There's a pause. "Fascinating. So you're telling me we have no idea the real origin of her augmentations? It's certainly nothing we've produced, and HiveMind is a proud near-monopoly nowadays. Any mention on who she's working for?"

"None, sir. We will keep trying, though."

"Don't bother. I have a plan for her, when the time is right. For both of them, really."

"...Yes sir."

Underwater Cave, Crypt

@Lexisheeps, @WhiteAngel25

---

Subject #3 smiled as she rode piggyback on Stella again, quickly catching up to Nick. "Thank you, miss."

She stared bewildered at the small dark wolf he held in his arms, clearly showing signs of PTSD from the sewn wounds on her bandaged arm.

Soon enough, the trio found themselves in front of the crypt. The entrance was covered in dark energy vines, entwining more deeply here. Upon descending what remained of the crumbled stone steps, Nick and Stella would need a light source to see what was in front of them. The white orb, faintly illuminant in the distance, seemed to be hovering over something.

If Nick and Stella gave it a closer inspection, they would find the bones of a man, aged with time and half emerging from the stone. There were two marks in the dust near its folded hands. These two marks were distinctly shaped, like two specific objects had been sitting there for a long time before getting relocated, or stolen.

The orb continued to hover here, giving a hint to its pain. Subject #3 gave it a long, hard look as she held tightly on Stella's back, before finally saying. "It feels... sad."

If Nick and Stella decided to explore the crypt, they would be met with similar burial graves, some with objects left on them, some without. There were a few more masks littered here, if one was watchful. Even some scant cultures and cracked pots. Some were lifeless, yet some were strangely infused with power, a dark glow emanating from them.

Near the far edge of the hallow, there was a crumpled stairwell leading down two ways, one to the left, and one to the right. There was the sound of fluttering coming from the path to the left, and bubbles from the path to the right. Perhaps these paths led to what the orb was seeking.

Iris Ascendis

Oh nooooo. :o

Edit: @Sifr We've set up the jenga tower, just need ya to knock it over and spell ultimate doom. :>