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fauxinsox · 2 days ago

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It appeared that Neilos' short, terse summons was all the explanation she was going to get (Nyx gave her an encouraging smile, and a soft chirp as he held out his hand to help her up the embankment, but that didn't really tell her what awaited her), and April, with all the courage that her stout but slightly mud encrusted spirit could muster, stumbled up the hill on her mismatched feet, making for the waterfall as well.

She was really going to miss her other shoe, left very sadly in the mud all the way across the marsh from here... but there was no point in crying over it now.

Maybe if she asked very nicely, Nyx could try to find it for her...

Nicely enough, once she had made it up the slippery embankment itself, the land leveled out somewhat, and solidified into a flaky, algae and moss covered stone path, winding its way along the cliff face and back behind the thundering falls. Nyx let go of her hand here, gesturing ahead of himself generously to indicate that she should walk ahead of him and in Neilos' wake, and she murmured a soft 'thank you' to him before doing so.

The waterfall, cascading down into the basin so heavily that the weight of it felt like it shook the entire mountain, splashed a bevy of strangely warm droplets onto her as she passed behind it cautiously, hugging the stone wall beside her and eyeing the more liquid one on her other side in no small amount of awe. She'd never seen a waterfall in person before... it was loud as hell, but honestly very beautiful. She wondered-

“Hurry up.”

Buoyant, curious mood punctured, April scowled up at Neilos' glaring form up ahead, folding her arms across her shirt's sodden chest and making a face at him. He hissed, baring his terrifying fangs very intimidatingly, but only turned away and stalked along the path-

Before disappearing entirely.

April's eyebrows shot up, her lips popping open and her sour mood flying the coop in lieu of the magically disappearing turtle. There was no way he'd turned invisible, right? There had to be, like, a cavern over there or something-

Hurrying as much as she was able to and still manage to avoid slipping on the stone path, she tiptoed along until she reached about where she thought the giant terrapin had suddenly poofed, and, indeed, hidden quite well behind a thick layer of hanging vines, there was a wide, very dark tunnel entrance, leading into the cliff face.

Neilos had gone in, so... there wasn't likely to be, like, a bear in there, right? Or a bunch of extremely venomous snakes- or snake monsters- or other things she had no idea could exist?

April threw Nyx, behind her, a hesitant glance, dawdling where she stood in uncertainty, but he only nodded enthusiastically, reaching out to hold the layer of vines aside for her. She sighed, resigned to her apparent fate (this might as well happen... at least she could trust Nyx wasn't going to let her get hurt. ...right?), and ducked beneath them and into the tunnel.

Her glasses fogged up almost instantly, hit by a wave of warm, humid air like she was walking into the rainforest room at the zoo. She blew cooler air up at the foggy lenses from her mouth, annoyed at the hindrance, and soon enough the fog cleared away, allowing her to squint ahead into the waiting darkness in peace.

Except... it wasn't dark at all. Spaced at regular intervals along the tunnel, illuminating it as it wound further into the side of the mountain, were little round balls of golden light, glowing warmly enough to keep anyone not able to see in the dark from tripping over the surprisingly thick vegetation sprouting from the ground within the tunnel.

Were they... lightbulbs? She honestly hadn't thought about it until this moment, but she had no idea what time period she was in, in this world. Was it the same as her own? Was she in the past, the future?

Was she in a world that was like hers at all?

She didn't know, and as she approached one of the glowing orbs, she felt a sickly twist in her gut that hadn't been there before, one that told her that things were very, very different here indeed.

Don't. She couldn't focus on that right now.

Get it together, girl.

Firming her resolve, she turned her attention back to the glowing little light and, indeed, found not a lightbulb, but a small, floating ball of pure, simple light. Once again, she was struck by the beauty of her surroundings, and very, very carefully, she reached out her fingers to touch it, ready to draw back at the first odd sensation.

Nothing. It was as if it wasn't even there, only existing to emit light...

April turned to find Nyx watching her curiously and sent him a smile, wiggling her fingers in the ball of light. She had a feeling here, and she was gonna follow it.

“Did you make these?” she queried softly, hoping that, ahead, Neilos wouldn't overhear her dawdling again, and the smaller turtle nodded in affirmation, smiling toothily and, with a single twist of one hand, pulled a similar glowing ball out of thin air. He looked pretty pleased with himself, and only looked more so when April let out a small gasp of surprise, clapping her hands together as quietly as she could manage.

“They're so cool! And so pretty- it's amazing that you can just do that. Wow.”

If a turtle could be flustered, Nyx was managing it. He instantly turned a different shade of green, his gaze swirling into a bevy of various patterns and shapes, and the light in his palm flickering and guttering out. He looked away almost shyly, once it had gone out, kicking a foot at the ground, and chirped quietly, raising one hand to push his hair back-

And very belatedly found the lily pad that was still sitting on top of his head.

Extremely confused, he pulled it off and stared at it, his jaw quirked to the side, and though April wanted to chuckle at his expression (so cute-), she could hear Neilos stomping back down the tunnel towards them, and hurriedly motioned to him to 'come on', stuffing her hands into her pockets and whistling innocently as she walked along.

Thankfully, the enormous dictator had nothing to say but 'stop making that noise,' and the three of them carried on along the tunnel in relative silence, only the drip of water from the arched stone roof and stalactites, and the scrape of their feet, marking their passing.

She was just beginning to wonder exactly how long this was going to take when, as she stepped past a pair of small, weathered stones with complex runes on them, she heard a brand new sound.

So. It's you then.

Someone was talking.

...or maybe they weren't. Hell, caves were supposed to bounce sound around like crazy, right? It could just be like, a bat call or something. It didn't have to be-

I think you know better than that.

She would have shrieked out loud if she hadn't immediately felt her jaw freeze shut. In fear, in shock, from this voice's power, she didn't know... but she wasn't able to make a single sound, as she continued following after the high, spined arch of Neilos' shell, his shadow cast long and dark across the floor behind him.

...no. The light was evenly spaced in the tunnel, he shouldn't have a shadow that dark. It... hadn't been there before.

Clever~ Smarter than most humans, I'll give you that. Still not saying much, but credit where credit is due.

The shadow, spread across the floor in front of her, continued to grow, shifting and mutating grotesquely. Where many creatures would have a head, the shadow formed empty spaces like eyes and grinning mouths, issuing with reedy, eerie laughter that sank into her like shards of ice. With too many clawed hands, the shadowy being reached out and up the walls towards the glowing orbs of light, squeezing them in its twisted fingers until the light diminished to a sickly, low blue tone, shrouding everything in a tinge of nightmarish dreariness.

Nyx and Neilos should have noticed something by now. They should have noticed the voice, the laughter, the lights, the shadow- right? They wouldn't just allow something like this, right?

Yet neither of them were reacting. Nyx walked behind her as he had been, and Neilos before her, even throwing a glower over his shoulder to ensure she was still following him. Nothing... she, herself, could still say nothing. She couldn't stop walking. She couldn't blink. She could only stare at the shadow, her heart thundering in her chest and tears beading in her eyes, a fear like she's never known before bearing down on her.

Was it... a demon? Was she being possessed?

People do like to call me one. I've haunted the worst nightmares of many humans, too, so it's not far off~

The shadow, seemingly amused by her thoughts, now rose from the floor entirely, its form as thick and dark and twisted as its intent. It laughed at her mockingly from five different grinning mouths- forty eyes devoured her as it towered above her and feasted on her fear.

O-oh spirits... she was going to die here, wasn't she-

Of course not. That wouldn't serve anyone's purposes, least of all mine... be not afraid, human. In my benevolence, you'll be spared.

Holy shit it was a fucking biblical angel. She'd seen art of one on the internet once, they were supposed to be terrifying, unknowable beings with many eyes and wings-

You're a riot~ Not what I was hoping for, but beggars really can't be choosers, can they... you'll do. Come. I think I've scared you enough for one day.

And as though she was waking from the worst nightmare she'd ever fucking had, she felt the being release its hold on her, she blinked and gasped, and everything she had seen, the shadow, the heavy, dark atmosphere, was gone. She stumbled over a root, nearly falling in her overwhelm, and Nyx quickly caught her, alarm written clearly on his face.

...she didn't want to worry him. Whatever the thing that had slipped into her mind was, it had told her that it meant her no harm, and appeared to be true to its word.

She didn't particularly like the thought of dealing with this Bill Cypher ass shadow monster, but if this was what she was being led to, and Nyx was in agreement... well. She trusted him.

She really, really hoped that trust wasn't misplaced.

Lifted back up onto her feet, and treated to yet another Neilos Scowl, April, at last, found herself at the end of the tunnel that never seemed to fucking end (though... how much of that had been the shadow monster in her head fucking with her? Was it really as long as she thought?), led into a vast cavern that felt wonderfully open compared to the suddenly suffocating tunnel.

It was also fairly well lit, though not by any of Nyx's glowing balls of light- in the center of the curved ceiling, there was a scattering of large, faceted crystals, and they each emitted a different color of light, casting a soft cascade of light down on the cavern.

So illuminated, the cavern was revealed to be primarily dominated by a giant pile of mossy rocks in the center of it, surrounded by the same thick and vibrant vegetation that filled the rest of the underground space and made absolutely no sense being there. Didn't plants usually need sunlight to grow...? Or were Nyx's lights enough?

Along one of the walls of the cavern, filled from a steady rivulet of water dripping from the ceiling far above, was a rather deep wading pool- Neilos had made for it the instant that they stepped into the cavern, and leaped headfirst into it shamelessly, sending a wave of water across the plant choked ground and splashing April all over again.

Damnit, she was just starting to dry off!!

Resisting the urge to throw something at him, April instead turned back the large pile of rocks at the center of the cavern... they, and the object that sat at the top of them, glinting in the low light.

It was a sword. An extremely large, intricately designed, obviously ancient sword, that somehow didn't show any marks of age at all, besides the tattered and faded scrap of blue fabric wrapped around its hilt. A soft breeze, somehow existing beneath ground (yeah, sure, okay), plucked at the fabric, stirring it to attract more attention to the blade.

So… impressed yet? You can get closer if you need to- I don't bite. Much~

April flinched, the reappearance of the dark voice taking her by surprise, and looked around herself nervously, hugging herself and shivering despite the warmth of the cavern.

What was she supposed to be seeing? All there was in here was the rocks, the crystals, Neilos' big ass forehead-

And the sword.

That's right~ Don't withhold your amazement, I know I'm pretty stupendous-

She couldn't help it. With everything suddenly shed in very literal light, the spectre of this mystery vanished, all she felt was hilarity. She'd been afraid of a fucking sword?! Ridiculous. She let out a laugh so loud and raucous that it hurt her throat a little, and that definitely shocked both Nyx and Neilos, the former of which jumped about a foot off the ground (almost like a big cat, arched and all-) and the latter of which breathed what could only have been one of the patches of algae in the water and immediately started coughing.

The voice in her head was miffed.

I'm... sorry, did you just laugh at me?? That is so rude. I'll have you know-

April was kind of over it, though. She scoffed, shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips, utterly baffled at this thing's gall.

“Hey, cut the crap, man. Cat's out of the bag- or, I guess, sword's out of the scabbard? Whatever. I know you're not some scary ass demon now, so chill out and get over it.”

The reaction was immediate. Nyx, who had yet to return to the ground from being scared half out of his wits (was he... levitating??), turned his odd eyes to the sword with a heavy glare, folding his arms and clicking in what sounded like a long-winded tirade. Neilos, recovered from nearly choking to death, propped himself halfway out of the water and glared at the sword as well, growling long and low in his throat.

“Aku, really? Are you pulling the... scary shadowmancer card... right now?”

The mountain itself seemed to agree. The cavern around them rumbled, a fine trickle of dust leaking from several places in the roof and a few pebbles jumping around on the floor, before it settled again.

Apparently thoroughly chastised, and more than a little reluctantly, the presence in her head withdrew, and instead of speaking within her mind, a realization that she could only make now that she heard it... the sword spoke aloud.

Or... um. Whatever was possessing the sword, at least. Obviously, the sword didn't grow a mouth and start jabbering-

“Fine... sorry. I was just having some fun, not like I get much of that around here...” the sword muttered sulkily, obviously pouting from being reprimanded so heavily, and Nyx chittered at it further, clearly upset by its theatrics... but drifted his way back to the floor of the cavern just a moment later, and looked back to April with a smile, beckoning her forward.

He indicated not just the sword, but the pile of stones it stood in, and slowly, carefully spelled out B-R-O-T-H-E-R-S.

...no way. These were their brothers?? This was Akuma and... what had Nyx spelled... Rafi??

“So... um. Rafi and Akuma are... respectively... a pile of rocks and a rusty old sword?”

She may as well have called Akuma a stick (she'd been tempted), for the outrage he obviously felt, and the aura of dark, furious anger that the sword began exuding.

“Okay, first of all, his name is Ravi, you stupid little girl- he is not a bunch of rocks, and you will not mock him. Secondly, I'm done. I'm not gonna put up with this. Neil, get her the hell out of here, I'm not gonna bond with a disrespectful, mouthy human. If you think I'm gonna spend the rest of my life being insulted-” he ranted, fuming up an impressive storm for a sword, and though Neilos wasn't at all impressed with her apparent disrespect either... he also, clearly, wasn't having any of Akuma's shit.

He threw himself out of the pool he'd been wading in and stalked across the cavern to jab a clawed finger up at the unmoving blade, snarling viciously.

“Shut up, Akuma. Rest of your life... you aren't going to have a life. Not if we don't get you out, now. This... is it. This is your shot. Your pride doesn't mean... shit to me.”

His massive, armored chest heaved, his jaw tight and his throat straining.

“You will not... ask me to lose my brother. ...not again."

His pronouncement obviously affected Akuma deeply. His temper tantrum ceased immediately, the wave of dark energy evaporating, and when he spoke again, his voice quavered, softer and lower than it had been so far.

“Neil... I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn't... I'm so sorry. I get it, I accept, of course I do-”

April didn't have a single goddamn clue what was going on. She looked between the sword and a suddenly very emotional Neilos (seeing him this upset was... different), confusion seething from her. She would really love to know what was going on, especially considering it seemed to involve her heavily-

Thankfully, she was spared the indignity of butting into Akuma and Neilos' weighty moment. Akuma let out a heavy sigh, following his reassurance of his brother, seeming to be settled on the matter of... something.

“Alright, human. I know you don't know what's going on... so we're gonna have to start from the beginning. Sit down- it's a long story, and you're gonna need to know it all.”