tales-of-abysia - Tumblr blog

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Crimson One

Aria sat in her office, her fingers softly feathering between a couple of pages of one of the many books she has placed upon her desk. It was then that there was a chime, a descending sound as the long window beside her shifted from many views of the others to a single, unmoving landscape. She moved the stack of books to the counter behind her, closing them into a box as the walls began to run red, like blood dripping into a clear pool of water. Her eyes drifted up as the roof formed into dark leaves, and the walls covered themselves in the subtle texture of bark before darkening into a brown texture, the space between the trunks remaining a dark red. Aria pulled out a folder and placed it gently onto her desk before sitting back down. After a moment the room finally set itself in place, and the red faded away to form the façade of the desk being placed within a dimly lit forest. The chair opposite her desk warped to the form of bone, held together by metal wires and covered in a thin red cloth. Finally, the carpet between them began to ripple.

With a subtle glow, the round carpet began to ripple. A dark puddle formed, and from the edges claws appeared. The reached out, two arms turning to four as the amorphous mass pulled itself into the room. Fangs and eyes spiraled up to the surface as the fluid grew upwards about four feet, stretching out wide, much larger than the forms of Jaxx or Kaje. As the final bits of it’s mass entered the room, the glow of the carpet faded and the crimson mass pulled itself together, swirling into a humanoid form. Two of the arms pulled in, the fangs spinning around the puddle pulled in and many mouths became two, the bottom one closing firmly shut. As the red solidified, it formed the body of a young woman. Dripping slowly, the extended droplets formed into long red hairs, the fangs of the second mouth into a form of necklace just above the woman's collarbone. Finally, the red spilled over her, forming a long sleeved shirt and long skirt, with a larger sheer shadow over the tops of them to distort the black details beneath. She ooened her eyes, a bright green, although a ring of blue rested within right eye. The Crimson One slowly admired the room, though this was not their first time within this chamber. Slowly a hand outstretched, clawed fingers gently scraping along the invisible partition that divided the room in two. Crimson then took a step backwards and plopped into the chair, their eyes quickly darting around as if looking for a threat hidden within the room.

“Welcome back, Crimson. How was the first time outside?”

They gently ran the tip of their thin tongue along their bottom row of teeth. “Loud, bright, many lifeforms. Too many.” Crimson's clawed fingers gently ran across the hairs on the left arm. “Everything was so… hot. Intense and visceral. The one with the scars was there with me. Did I do that?”

“No, that wasn’t your fault. You didn’t hurt anyone.”

Crimson nodded, but remained silent for a few long moments.

Aria continued, “The heat and sensations were likely due to the trip. You were quite timid when you were out, did you want to talk about why?”

“That man was there. Two furred creatures. Uncomfortable… I didn’t need to show dominance, I was the only predator when we were inside.”

Aria smiled. “And the girl?”

Crimson’s face changed color as their brow dipped, tongue licking teeth. “The girl… I took her. Artisan stopped me from claiming her though.”

“Smart of him. There are great consequences to your actions outside of this place, you know? You’d be forced to take responsibility.”

Crimson turned away, looking out at the woodland expanse. “I liked the warmth.. It filled me with this sensation… the feeling of the warm water rushing over me, the um…” Crimson's brow dipped further. “It hurt good..”

Aria chuckled, the pen in her hand subtly moving as she took notes. “The word is pleasure. You felt pleasure. It’s the result of the human brain rewarding you for a success, like how you used to feel when completing your hunts. Do you like her?”

Crimson’s expression returned to a neutral one, and fell silent.

“I mean, your emotions. Did she make you feel good?”

“I…” Crimson stared for a moment. “I want to mark her again. I want to do it without that man there, and without the others watching, so I can feel free to be myself. Just us, just in our den…”

Aria smiled, her fingers gently dancing across the notepad within the folder. “That’s wonderful, certainly much better than you had imagined, yes?”

“She didn’t hate me… most of the others hate me, fear me. They think I’ll hurt her, scar her flesh and mind…”

“Do you want to hurt her?”

“I want… no. Yes? I want her to feel who I am. I don’t want the pain to hurt her, not in a pain way..”

“So you want her to know your unique form of affection. That does come with the responsibility of after-care, too. Do you feel that you didn’t have a chance to show her properly?”

“Alistair got in the way. He kept pulling me back… He's possessive of her.”

“Protective is the word you’re looking for. He wants to keep her safe; he is a little paranoid himself when it comes to his partner.”

“Protective?” Crimson's eyes drifted to the side. “I don’t know how that works. I only know how to attack. How do you protect?” They licked along the top row of teeth again.

“He places himself between the danger and what he wants to keep safe. He does that often, you'll find. Artisan is a very caring individual, but I’m sure you noticed that during your time with him the other day.” She quickly glanced down at the paper for a moment. “So, you don’t like the other resident?”

“No.” Crimson's attention returned to Aria. “I don’t feel safe around others. I don’t trust the people.”

“But you trust the girl?”

“Well, I…” Crimson's face changed to confusion. “She can’t hurt me. It’s safe.”

“So how does she make you feel?”

“She makes me feel… safe. Understood. Accepted. Her and Alistair kept using this word-“ They bit their tongue.

“Love.”

Crimson stared at Aria for a while, wondering if this concept was worth asking about, or if it was something oneself needed to learn on their own. What did Love even feel like? The concept felt foreign when compared to the time in the cell and in the Bin. Whatever it was, it was the opposite of lonely. “I know I don’t wanna be alone anymore.”

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Brown One

Early spring, Bastion pulled open the mirror door and barged into it, half expecting to be interrupting something. As he entered into the Reflection Room he stopped suddenly, looking around at the décor. Modern black and white chair and art of dull colors in abstract, jarring shapes that vaguely looked like humanoids. Some seemed to embody a solemn nature, others looked like they may be suffering. Before turning to her, Bastioned stared at an abstract painting where the shadow seemed to be cradling it’s head in small hands, in a world where everything was small, but a bold black blur against a stark white background. It was like the light was swallowing everything. “Aria, what is all of this?”

She glanced up from a nameless book, slipping it’s ribbon into the pages as she pretended to just now notice him. “Oh, Bastion! You finally grace my presence. I’ve seen everyone else at least once by now.”

“The weaker ones come for help more often. You’re designed to assist with self healing, to accelerate growth of the weaker personalities.” He looked her in the eye, a hand outstretched to the painting. “Where did this come from?”

“You created that piece yourself.”

“Yeah, I get that. It was tossed into the Bin with Laila. What’s with this?” He grabbed it off of the wall.

“Well I got it back and here it is. Do you dislike it?”

He stared at it in bewilderment for a second before sighing and dropping it onto the counter. “I’m not here for psychoanalysis. I want to know if you made any progress with her.”

Aria’s lip drifted down in one corner. “I see multiple Her's in this office. To which do you refer?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Aria. I don’t care about Clora's kinks or Mari's sensitivities. Tell me about your progress with the crimson one. Is she making progress?”

Aria let out a long exhale. ”You know, professionally speaking the therapist isn’t supposed to divulge information on their clients.”

Bastion narrowed his eyes and turned to look out the giant cracked window. “I need to know if she’s getting better or if she’s maintaining her feral nature. I know you’re not comfortable talking about it but this is one of your duties. You wanted to be included again, so I made sure that this room exists for you. Honestly, I wanted to just be rid of you after you caused the Flood.”

Aria diverted her eyes, and her fingers drifted through her short hair. “Well I’m trying to help everyone equally. Sadly it seems that some aren’t as willing to be helped, such as yourself.”

He scoffed and took a step toward the desk, but stopped short just before the end of the long window. Instead, he walked around to the back of the chair and pushed it forward, into the small table and both of them dragged across the floor until they impacted the outside of her desk. Bastion leaned forward with a glare. “Crimson one. That’s why I’m here. Is she improving?”

Aria's eyes narrowed at Bastion, down to his hands and then to the chair he leaned against. She shook her head and let out an extended sigh, pulled open a drawer and grabbed a thick folder from within. She dropped her personal novel in it’s place. “First of all, stop saying She.”

“Why? Female body, in a dress. It’s a she.”

“Crimson rejects such concepts. They dislike any moniker that is sexually representative.”

“So what you’ve managed to learn is that monster is asexual?”

Aria's eyes shot up to Bastion's with frustration. “Asexual implies a lack of urge. What Crimson is can be referred to as nonbinary. They don’t sexually identify. Furthermore, to refer to Crimson as a monster is to belittle their potential.”

Bastion huffed, opening his mouth to speak again, but Aria cut him off. “FURTHERMORE, Crimson is slowly opening up, taking time to learn language and social skills. They are paranoid and aggressive, having a great deal of fear and hate for anything unfamiliar or unpredictable. I wouldn’t recommend a party, and Crim should be kept away from pets and probably people for a while. They’re not ready for social contact yet but I believe reform to be possible. My main concern is that their aspect may be spreading to others, most notably Jaxx due to Crimson's connection to Laila.”

Bastion finally burst. “Connection?! Is that what you think they had?! God, you think I’m trying to belittle this fucking thing’s potential by calling it a monster? She’s a fucking cannibal, Aqua. She ate Zane’s arm first, then went on to rip off Bane's fingers FOR FUN. We found them last month atrophied but she just spit them out.” He lifted his hand and started ticking fingers. “After Zane she took Damien's arm, leg, and eye. She ripped Laila in half, shatter Audio like fine china, consumed Dawne Luna WHOLE, and now we have that thing locked in Lexi's room. Why does it look like that anyways? It was a bloody puddle before. Did you entirely miss the fact that she still has Bane’s eye in her head?”

Aria stared daggers at Bastion behind her unentertained expression. “Do not ever call me that again, do you hear? You act as if this is all fault that lands on my shoulders but I only found Crimson, I didn’t create them. In fact, the reason Crimson consumes other people’s aspects seems to sound pretty similar to your own philosophy, where you felt everything should be gathered in one place. It’s most likely that the parts of you that were cast off, these hateful thoughts of self destruction, were the first things that were consumed.” She placed her finger on a line within one of the pages of the folder and read. “From there, the other things made them larger, stronger. The appearance is likely pulled from Luna's own looks, hence the “her” appearance of a being without concepts of self-sexualization. As best I can tell, the consumed aspects are digesting. With Luna's passion Crimson seems to be adjusting to interests of it's own, and Damien’s pieces are allowing them to focus on language and social structures. There’s a whimsy, an innocence there. I imagine it came from the pieces of Laila we couldn’t recover. That said, I think Crimson still remains mostly feral. We need more time and a safe space to let them stretch, preferably without anyone else around. Crimson is growing and getting more manageable but still dangerous. I suggest we stay the current line of treatment. That’s my analysis.”

Bastion threw his hands up into the air. “Thank you! Was that so fucking hard, Miss Aria?” He turned and walked out of the room, pulling the door open wide and slamming it loudly shut behind him.

Aria sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Such an asshole. You’re the hardest one to work with.” She closed Crimsin's folder and switched it out for her book as the room slowly reset itself to monochrome.

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Silver One

Aria was flipping through her book in her office, leaning back in her chair as she waited for something new to happen. Occasionally her gaze would roam to the stained window, and to the many small panes there. She tried her best to keep an eye out to see if anyone needed her help. A few people were nearby, but at this point in time several had not yet visited her. Finally her eyes drifted to her desk, where a picture frame was aimed toward her. A sad smile slowly crossed her face, her solemn eyes examining each face. It pulled her in to another time, her memories consuming all of her attention. She didn’t notice at all as the grey bled away to make room for a vibrant splash of color.

“You good?” She snapped back to reality as Artisan stood before her. The walls now looked as if the bled bright colors like paint on a canvas, except the large black crack along the left wall which crawled from painting to painting.

She smiled wide as she saw him, rising from her seat and swiftly stepping around the desk. “Alistair!” She stopped just in front of him and raised both of her hands, placing them forward towards him until they impacted solid air where a ripple echoed out like drops in a pond. He reached out and placed his hand on the other side of this invisible wall. “I didn’t think that you’d be coming by to see me!”

While his smile brought her some subtle happiness, slowly her gaze travelled down to his neck, where black cracks trailed up from his left shoulder. She noticed that his sleeve on that side – just there – was black instead of the oily shimmer of his hair and clothing. His words dragged her focus back once more. “I wanted to make sure you’ve been treated well. I know they started letting people see you. I hope it’s going well.”

Her fingers clenched toward the ripples where his hand was. “It is. Not everyone is nice, and some like Bastion haven’t been to see me yet. I am trying my best though, trying to keep everyone positive and active. Stagnant nature can cause depressing thoughts and I-“ She couldn’t stop herself from looking back down at the dark cracks on his skin “-I uh… I want to reduce those feelings so they don’t keep hurting people. I’m glad that I’m allowed to talk to people in here.”

Artisan nodded at her with a smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was helping some of the others get everything together. We’re trying to out everything together inside and out. I’m pretty glad, the roommate leaves soon so I’ve been tasked with interior redecoration. I have an idea for an office set-up I hope the others will put to good use.”

“That’s wonderful! I’m glad you’re finding productive things to do. Especially after-“ She stopped, swallowed, and then rapidly changed subject. “Are you recovering?”

“I mean, I’m keeping positive and all.” He slid his collar down to expose his shoulder, where the cracks led to a dark, knife shaped hole of black. “This thing doesn’t seem to be going away though. I think it’s gonna be a bit more of a process. How long do you have before your next meeting?”

Even after he covered the wound, Aria stared at his shoulder. “Audio is coming by at some point. He’s doing pretty well. Lexi comes in from time to time to give me details per Bastion's request so I can use my spare time to watch Crim. It’s developing still.”

“I see.” He looked over to one of the smaller panes of glass and focused. “Have we learned anything yet?”

“It grows when it feeds, so it’s best to keep it away from the others. Other than that it just… hates. I’m trying to find a way to help deal with the build-up of negativity but it’s difficult.”

Artisan nodded a bit, and then smiled once again. “Well you’ve managed to help Azure a bit, so you seem to be pretty good at this. I think you’ll be out of the Box sooner than later at this rate.”

“Bastion was locked in here for three years. I’ve hardly managed that level of repentance.”

“He sat here and bickered at Azure. You actually help people. I think apprehension is the main reason you’re kept in here.” He pulled away from the wall, grabbing his seat – a small-backed stool with one metal leg – and rested upon it. After a moment he realized Aria stayed at the wall closest to him. “You must not get a lot of human moments in here.”

“Only when I’m working. It’s always focused on the others, though.”

Artisan frowned at her, his eyes roaming to where her hand still rested on the ripple wall. “That sounds so very lonely.”

“I am…”

“… I’ll hang out here for a little while. Bash can handle the move and I’ll leave once it’s time to do some decorating, okay?”

Aria smiled, a but of happiness in her eyes. “I would greatly appreciate that, Alistair.”

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Yellow One

Engine walked through the park at the foot of the tower. He stopped a moment to watch Mikendo try to teach Clora how to skate. She wore his hat for good luck, looking like a real punk with her bandages fingers and a scratch on her face. He chuckled as her face contorted in focus and he realized he didn’t have the heart to remind her that Mikendo had no idea what he was doing. He continued on the thin path that wrapped around the tower, as he had places to be. He grabbed a small violet growing from one of the planters and slipped it into his vest pocket.

Engine finally got to the mirror door to the Reflection Room. Miss Aria was within, waiting for their talk. Sitting on the wicker bench was Lexi, bending a metal wire into a dragonfly shape. “Heya there Alexia. Waiting to see Miss Aria?”

She looked up at him momentarily before her gaze fell back to the wire insect. “Nah, I’m hanging out with Bastion today. We have a task.”

Engine looked around, toward the park and then toward the residential district. He didn’t see Bash anywhere. After a moment he turned his gaze to the mirror. “Wait, in there? Bastion? Like the real Bastion?”

She blinked slowly, and then finally looked up to Engine. “Is there a fake Bastion?”

“Um, well no. I mean-“

The door whipped open and a thoroughly annoyed Bastion stormed out of it. “What a waste of time. Come on, Lexi. We’re going.” He noticed Engine and pointed his thumb at the door. “I half expected you to be in there. I thought I was going to interrupt you.”

Engine smiled wide. “I got distracted and I’m running late! Excuse me.” He walked over to the door and gave the glass handle a soft tug. Before he stepped through he glanced back to them long enough to see them head into the lower levels.

Engine stepped into a room that reflected himself. A pale purple near the ceiling bled darker and darker until the color was thick and dark on the carpeted floor. To the left he had a few pieces of art. The closest was not hanging, but resting awkwardly on the counter. He lifted it, examining. There was a celestial body in the center. The sun shone to the left, an inverted angelic being reaching down from the sky and holding it up. The right had a skeletal figure exuding darkness reaching out and placing a hand on the moon. The two together symbolized a duality. He hung it up and glanced at a couple more pieces, each with these two tones as a theme. Two serpents curled around each other, a brightly lit pond with a dark reflection, and more. He smiled at it rested level and then turned to the small chair there, a small angle on the back for support. He sat straight in it with a sincere smile. “Hello Miss Aria. You look a bit troubled.”

Aria stared down into one of her desk drawers, her brow lowered. “Yeah…” She closed the drawer and then grabbed a folder off of her desk, closing it and sorting it away. Engine noted Bastion’s name on the file, but it seemed so thin. She turned back toward Engine with his own file, one with several tabs and a bit more bulk. A sketch of a notebook was on the front of it. “All righty Engine. Last time we talked about uhh…”

“Please smile, Miss. A grimace doesn’t suit your face, and the stress will wrinkle you.”

Her tired face looked up at him, her eyes widening a bit until they met his. After a soft scoff she smiled genuinely back at him. “Thank you, Engine. I’m afraid I’m just having a stressful day. It should pass soon.” She feathered through his folder and Engine was quite sure that Bastion had ruined her mood. He said nothing. “So we were talking about your containment?”

Engine nodded. “Yeah, I think I remember that.” He looked at the tall metal table before him, where a Newton's cradle, an hour glass, and a fidget spinner all rested. He flipped the hourglass. “I forget where I was so I’ll start over. My book was damaged during the Flood, y'know? I exerted a lot of my energy to hold back that big red monster so I can’t remember that part too well. I remember waking up though, and seeing Clora and Lexi trying to fix my brother and I. Lexi got all the pages and put them back together and she was binding them to a new spine.” He reached into his vest and pulled out a small book with a fresh white spine and a thick black binding string. The pages had begun to turn brown from use and age. He placed this onto the table next to the hourglass. “I recovered quickly but I do have some new scars. They’re gonna need some work to cover up.” Aria stared for a moment with curiosity. He stood and slipped his vest onto the seat's back, and then crossed his arms to lift his long sleeve shirt off. Aria's eyes fixed onto his skin as he disrobed, catching attention on his forearm tattoos first. The one on his right arm – a metal cross used as a projectile weapon in combat with “Redemption” written across it - was old. On the left arm was a perfect reflection, but this one was fresh and the flesh was still raw from the process. This one read “Penance.” Engine did them himself. Her eyes followed up to his shoulder, where the skin was torn and rippled all around. This is where his arm had been removed. The skin was paler, his muscle atrophied and his fingers slender. One wouldn’t notice while he was clothed, but topless it quickly became apparent. He turned, revealing a long polearm tattoo down his spine. As he lifted his arm, however, a long tear down his left side under his arm quickly became visible. It was sewn shut with a thick black cord similar to the thread that now bound his book. “I got the design for Penance done, so now it matches Redemption on my right arm. I gotta figure out something for this scar on the side though because it isn’t very aesthetic.”

Aria took in all of the details. She winced at the marring of his flesh. “You uh… You took a lot of damage in the Flood, huh?”

He nodded, his goofy grin firmly remaining in place. “Yeah! Lexi tells me that thing ripped my arm off, but Vedroh gave my his so I’m all right. The tear down my side is actually Vedroh's fault so I might make that tat looks like him. It’s kinda shaped like him, yeah?”

Aria stared at the scar in silence for longer than Engine felt comfortable with. When she noticed his discomfort she cleared her throat and looked down to the folder for a moment. A twinge of guilt rang through her like the chime of a bell. “Your recovery took a while, yeah? It took a couple months for you to get back to normal.”

“I mean, yeah. But still, that’s better than how long Damien had to wait. And anyways, I still have an arm so that’s pretty great!” He quickly grabbed his shirt and slipped it back on, it fitting his form like a glove. It was pretty clear that he hadn’t expected his wounds to make her so uneasy. He didn’t want her to suffer the sight any longer.

She tried to move the conversation forward. “So you mentioned before that you’ve been feeling different? You never went into detail with that.”

A light slowly faded from Engine's eye, although his smile remained on him like a statue's would. “Heh… Yeah, I’m a little tense lately. I seem pretty quick to get agitated, and to top it off I don’t seem to be able to make my words come out the way I’d like them to. There’s been a lot to do lately and it’s left me pretty tired all the time, but I’m proud to say I’ve kept it all in line despite sometimes burning the candle at both ends or staying awake way too long. It doesn’t bother me or anything but somehow whenever I bring it up about how I’m holding together I somehow make it sound like a bad thing. I stopped talking about it to be honest. It only seems to make the Missus mad when I bring up my exhaustion and she has so much going on already. Trying to find the right thing to say has been really difficult lately and I’m wondering if I’m being insensitive, rude, or maybe I’ve just said it the wrong way, maybe with the wrong tone?” Engine noticed the hourglass emptied and he pulled a ball back on the Cradle, starting the melodic clicks.

Aria tapped her pen in tune to the clicks as she thought. “Well those are possibilities, but I think it’s far more likely that your Missus is under a lot of stress. Her own doubt likely makes her feel like a burden and that’s coming out when she hears about your exertion. She has trouble with herself a lot of days so my guess is that she has the impression that you’re overworked.”

“I like my work though.”

“Well En, it’s always possible that she thinks you’re being insincere sometimes when you tell her not to worry. If you don’t speak out when you are tired or stressed, then she’s going to start assuming when.”

Engine’s eyes widened. “Holy whoa! I didn’t think of that!”

Aria couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Did you think she was psychic, or something? Or perhaps you actually believe she presumes you have infinite stamina.”

Engine shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I don’t really want to add to an already unbearable burden. I can handle myself just fine, but it’s her I worry about. I’m very certain of my limits because every day it’s the same, with a minor variable of sleep. She has a different threshold each day, and if she passes that it can wreck her. I don’t want her to push too hard and get worse, or loose focus when she needs it. If I help with everything I can be more certain that she is okay. I need her to be okay, you know? I want her to get better and be happy, so I will push myself a little bit to make it happen. I know sometimes I ask a lot so the least I can do is give back.”

“I’m sure she wants the same for you though.” Aria tilted her head with a small frown showing her concern.

“Yes. But no, I can handle a lot more right now so that’s what I’ll do. I support my little family. I make sure to rest and say no when I need to, it’s just not as often as others may like.”

“Burning the candle at both ends isn’t sustainable, En.” Her tapping slowed as the cradle's did.

Engine picked up the fidget and began spinning it the moment the cradle ceased it’s clacking. “Well my candle is reeeeaaally big, and if I don’t burn enough of it then I can’t even sleep. Like walking home for example; it helps me burn off extra energy from work, killing some of my momentum. If I skip that then sometimes I am really talkative when I get home, and then I feel really annoying. I don’t wanna be annoying, I wanna be helpful and a benefit to my family. I wanna know my siblings, and help them grow. I wanna be there for my wife when her doctors don’t listen. I wanna be a great husband and sometimes that means taking a little extra of the load and using the power I have. It isn’t more than I’m capable of, and it isn’t more than my fair share. She took a lot of the labor at first, and found us a home, and got me work. She’s done a whole lot of tiring work for me and I’m sure as hell gonna pay it back with interest. Maybe it’s only something I think about, but I recover pretty quickly and if a bad time comes up I want her to be able to handle it with me. I’m unwilling to let her suffer when I can stop it, especially if it’s not a bother for me. It usually isn’t to be honest, and even when it’s a lot for me to handle I am there because I want to be. It’s my choice.”

“Have you considered how that makes her feel?”

Engine placed the fidget down and stood, grabbing his vest. As he did so, there was a soft tone throughout the room. “I would hope that she’s proud to have a guy who is willing to put Us first instead of just me. I do plenty to work on myself, and the things I am not working on have more to do with my own shortcomings then they do her. I’m imperfect, but I try to be the perfect husband. It’s just who I am.” He pulled his vest on as she closed the folder. “Thanks for having me again, Miss Aria. It’s always a pleasure.” He held his hand out and took a step toward her desk, to where the rug ended, perfectly in line with the window.

“NO, EN!” She spoke a moment too late as he reached the edge and instead of stepping onto the gray wood floor he came to a hard stop, faceplanting into an invisible wall right in front of her desk. The air rippled out like the surface of water as she let out a long sigh. “Engine, must you do that every time?”

With a bit of a blush, Engine rubbed his nose and picked up his notebook. “Eheh… yeah I keep forgetting that we cant cross there. Sorry. Uhhh… Oh! I got this for you!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small violet flower. He gently tossed it over the divide and it landed on her desk. “There we go! You said you wanted to see the Park last time but I remembered you can’t leave, so I brought some of the park to you! Hopefully you can keep it alive for a while, Miss Aria. Have a good day, okay?” He turned toward the door and happily pulled it open.

As the door closed, Aria smiled and lifted up the violet. “Beautiful…”

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Orange One

Audio sat outside of the “Reflection room” which sat where the two levels of the city met. At the base of the tower there were two doors; the glass door entered into the lift where you could access many of the rooms. Opposite it, the back of the tower had gentle shade and a few benches, one stone, one wood, and one wicker. The door between the tree of them was a mirror, the greenish silver surface reflecting the visage of whatever passed it. It clicked, and then it opened. Darkness waited within as Duske took a step out of the door and placed a hand on the center of his chest. He looked up and his eyes met Audio's. “It feels nice.” He stared for a moment longer as Audio's confusion grew. He dropped his hand to his side. “Sorry, you have been waiting. She’s ready for you now.”

Audio nodded and stood. “Thanks, Duske. I’m glad you’re feeling well.” They awkwardly waved each other goodbye and Audio approached the door and opened it.

As he entered into the reflection room there could be heard a gentle tune, music of a calm nature like one could expect as the background sound of a relaxed temple. As he looked around the room he noticed the walls were a subtle orange, bars missing with various symbols for notes and half-notes along them. On the wall behind him there were gently moving lights that perfectly matched the tempo of the ambient sounds, and the left wall contained a few albums and a record player. A smile crossed Audio's face as he made his way to the seat in the center, a spinning seat with a sound-deafening cusion that made nary a sound as he rested upon it and leaned back into it's warm embrace. He noticed a large cracked window opposite the record player, each fragment another color and showing another place. The orange one, in this case, was opaque. Finally Audio turned to Aria, who's desk and crates were as grey as the subtle tone of her skin and hair. She had drawn a manilla folder from one of the crates as Audio had admired the room. “This place seems cozy!”

She smiled warmly at Audio. “I’m glad you think so. I tried my best to make it feel right for you, but I wasn’t sure if recent events may have changed anything you like.”

He nodded. “Oh yeah, my injuries? It definitely changed me. I’m not like I used to be, but I also think I’m not different enough to warrant a color change. At my core I’m me, but the outside is all different.”

She quietly nodded as he spoke. She slipped the folder open and scanned across a page with the tip of her pen. “I actually wanted to start by talking about the injury, if that’s quite all right.”

Audio slowly nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I had a feeling that it uh… would come up again. I was already coming undone back then. I was losing purpose, over stressed. Mentally, I had started to erode. As I was falling to pieces, the Flood happened. When all those emotions exploded out at once I was hit by… what I can only presume was Hate.”

Aria nodded slowly as she glanced down at a drawer that was hidden from her client's view. “Yes, we’re still working on that, to be honest. It’s been a bit of a process, but I’m forging ahead with hope.” Hey eyes flicked away from the folder in the drawer and to Audio instead. “I hear you have a new aspect? They tell me it helped you make this new appearance of yours.” Audio looked down at his new look. He was still a slender guy, but he carried himself upright now to show his full length with courage. Where once he had baggy clothes he now wore a button-up and had a fedora, which he would only wear when out and about, of course. His shirt was barred, notes and symbols laying across them like sheet music. There was a pocket watch on his belt and in his chest pocket was a glasses case.

He smiled widely. “Yeah, so I’ve always been kind of an ADHD coping mechanism, granting my focus to others so they can use music to drown out the outside world. I feel calmer now, and sometimes I’m called to help others calm down as well. Sadly, Bastion isn’t very responsive to me so he takes some time to calm down. I also don’t get called to help with… uhh… I don’t ever see… well, you know. The angry one.”

“That’s quite understandable. Your injuries are directly related so they’re likely keeping you separated for the time being, even with your new aspect.” She let out a subtle sigh, and Audio picked up her cue pf disappointment.

“Is something bothering you, Miss Aria?”

She blinked for a moment, looking up to Audio with surprise. After a moment she smiled, followed by a brief moment of joyous laughter. “Yes, a little. Thank you for asking, my job usually has the care going the other way around. I’ve just noticed that I’ve met with everyone mostly, with the notable exception of Bastion. He has yet to come here.”

Audio's head bowed in thought. “Yeah he doesn’t really seem the type. He hates asking for help, always aiming for Autonomy. He cooks and cleans and works. He’s just bad with people is all. I think his attitude pushes people away.” He looked back to Aria. “Do you think I could help him in time?”

“I know you could, Audio. You’re a good spirit and you touch those arpund you with positive thoughts. You only ever seem to get down on yourself, so try to make sure you’re always helping yourself, too? Okay?”

Audio smiled and nodded. “That sounds good. You asked about my injuries earlier and I kinda avoided the subject, sorry. I’m all healed now except for a couple of scars on my back. They’re bruises that damaged the muscles, which is apparently a thing. I’ll be okay if I don’t get hit again there, and temperature therapy assists with the breaking down of the scar tissue. Some more months of taking it easy and I’ll be 100% all like new and stuff.”

“Good. So that means no more sparring in the arena for now?”

Audio's eyes widened slightly at this, and he stuttered as his face blushed lightly. “Uh, well you see Miss Aria, uh, the sparring actually helps me stretch and get out of my bubble so um, I know it isn’t condus- uhh conduct-… I know it doesn’t help but I need it to grow my social skills. It’s a risk I’m taking for my overall growth.”

“Very well, my friend. That’s at least good. You know your limits so I expect you not to push them. Have Clora take a look at you after your battles so she can check your scars. I’ll have her call you out if she finds anything negative. I think that will be all for now unless you have any concerns or questions.”

Audio smiled at her and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. Thank you Miss Aria. Talking to you has been helping. I’ll be back next week!”

He rose to his feet and went to the doorway. “Audio?” He let out a sharp, small sound in confusion as he turned back to her. “The word you were looking for is condusive. I hope that helps.”

He laughed and nodded. “Yeah it does. En is better with words to be honest. Thank you.” He pulled the door open and stepped through, allowing it to click shut as he did so.

The room grew dull and quiet as the music faded, the walls bled back to grey, and everything on the client-side of the room melted into the furniture. Aria filed the folder with the orange tab into the bin behind her and her eye caught the bottom drawer again, and the thick, crimson tabbed folder within. “What to do about you though?

[tales-of-abysia]

Reflection - Blue One

Azure took a deep breath and pushed open a door into an office. This place was not one of his making, but was intended to suit him nonetheless. The wall behind him contained the door, as well as paintings and pictures of nature and the night. A few plants adorned the wall to his left, and a large stained glass window existed to his right, with each panel showing something different through its own hues. He sat in a cushioned wooden chair with fine carvings of detail along it and released a sigh. Across from him there was a desk with a few books, a picture frame turned away, and various small fidgets amongst a Newton's cradle. Behind the desk sat a woman of mature physique and calm demeanor, and beyond her were various closed crates and chests along the wall. As Azure got seated, she turned and opened the smallest of them to grab a small folder from a stack within.

“Hello Azure. You’re the first to meet with me.” Her skin, eyes, and short hair were all grey, devoid of any kind of subtle color unlike the pale blue room around her. She had lipstick and eyeshadow in the same blue, which helped her look less inanimate when she was still. Otherwise, the woman looked like a marble statue or a finely crafted machine. “My name is Aria. We will be speaking from time to time to help clear your head. Think of this as an assisted meditation?”

He nodded. “I had presumed. I'm not surprised nobody else has met with you yet. It makes sense I’d go first, having the most problems this past year.”

She nodded, her quiet movements pressing the folder open as she kept her attention on him. “Can you tell me about some of these problems?”

Azure fiddled with his thumbs. “Honestly, it comes down a lot to a loss of purpose and control. I couldn’t write for a very long time, and then I just felt so lost and so confused, pulled in different directions. I couldn’t really get a handle on anything so each day I would wake, work, try to medicate the physical and emotional pain away, and then sleep again. Most days I wouldn’t even find the will to eat so I kind of started falling apart.”

“All right, I see.” She kept her eyes on him but within the folder her fingers danced with a pen. “So you would say control and purpose are important to you?”

“Purpose, definitely. I need to have something to work towards. If I’m not writing or working then I need something to do that at least feels progressive. I play a lot of games because they help me feel that completion when I succeed in them. Other times I will consume media for story, and to understand all the nuances because I feel the need to have all of the information. I don’t like being left in the dark.”

“So even when having fun you look for deeper meaning. That's not a bad thing, but it sounds like it could get in your way of enjoying things.”

Azure rubbed the back of his head and gazed over to the glass window. “It does. I overanalyze people and situations. Sometimes I can see and feel what people really think, the stress or discomfort, unhappiness and even disgust. It makes me not want to really interact a lot. I limit my interactions now to people I can understand, or at least can try to.”

“Do you think that other people’s negative emotions are because of you?”

“Well, sometimes for sure. Other times I think I’m trying to find a way to change that feeling but I can’t find the words or actions, and then I notice that it’s because I don’t fully understand like I used to. It takes me a long time to think of a response and usually it’s either too late in the conversation or I’m just wrong. I don’t get people anymore.”

Aria finished writing something and then flipped back through the folder to the previous page. “So I’m gonna backpedal here for a second. It sounds like this relates to your previous topic, control. It sounds like you want to be able to in charge of the emotions in a room, and direct the thoughts away from people’s negativity.”

He nodded yet again. “Yeah. If we can control the negative things about our lives then we can change how happy we are with what we have. I want to be happy.”

Aria slowly closed the folder and her attention centered entirely on Azure. “How has trying to control your own negativity affected you?”

Azure stared out through the green pane of glass. “I failed, dramatically so I would say. Instead of getting a hold on myself I lost it. I tried to carry everything and instead it dropped. I didn’t conquer my depression, I nearly drowned in it. I was destructive and caustic, and then when I tried to manage it bled out all over the place and affected everyone.” He looked over at Aria for a second before turning away again. “I caused a flood of emotions that resulted in a cascade breakdown. Engine, Audio, Lexi, Mikendo, Artisan, Darkside, Mari, Zane… myself and even you. I changed entire dynamics because I felt I could handle everything myself and it just turns out that I can’t always do that. The whole world changed in a day. The city doesn’t float anymore, the oceans are gone, the city beyond has been overcome by growths of vegetation and the beasts that escaped during the attack. Things are changing every day and I have no…”

“Control?”

“Purpose. I have no purpose. When I narrow down how I feel, it has become apparent in my mind that I’m not important anymore. This is usually when someone would fade away before my brain was on display. People care now, and just letting myself go seems selfish but also stupidly selfless. I don’t want to exist just to perpetuate trouble, create drama, or to make more issues that can end us.”

“You have a lot of heart, Azure. You think about what’s best for everyone, and you try to act on those thoughts. You may have the wrong idea on how to get it done sometimes but you’re the kind of person the world needs. Try not to get down on yourself.”

“It's easy to though. I was Sorrow for such a long time. Depression is a part of me as much as I’m a part of something bigger as well.” He looked between the colored panes of glass as a partial distraction. “I’m a long ways from when I would just write all day.”

“Sorrow isn’t what you are, it’s who you were. Those are different things. Even back then you weren’t filled with such dark thoughts. This is just a low moment, something that only defines you as much as you let it. You may have been depressed so long it turned to anger, but even then the anger didn’t control you or consume you, and that is because you’re more than those things. You have passion, and a lot of it. I think the ways you’ve suffered lately are because of a lack of an outlet. It’s good that you’ve planned out a new story, I think writing is important for you.”

“It is, but nobody ever wants to hear me talk about it. My creativity is a bother, some have even said it’s a waste of time.”

“Preposterous. It matters to you, and that alone is enough of a reason to keep it up and talk about the parts you enjoy.”

Azure nodded again. Through a silver-tinted pane of glass he could see Lexi. She had paint on her hands.

“Have you thought to change your emblem you carry with you?”

Azure raised a brow and turned to her, then moved his head to the side and gazed at the broken heart emblem burned into the wood there. It was broken into three pieces, one black, one with a grey shine, and one with a white shine. Blue ran through the cracks like a burning river. “Never even for a second.”

“In that case, be sure to use it as a remind that you aren’t alone, amd that you’ve survived times harder than this. You’ve felt lost before, and always found yourself in the end.” She regained his attention and a corner of his lip raised.

There was a small tone in the room around them and he glanced around confused. “That was weird.”

“That’s all the time I have, sadly. We can speak again though?”

“Yeah. Sure.” He stood and brushed himself off. He almost had more words, but then awkwardly turned toward the door with a slight sigh through his nose, opened the door, and gently let it click shut behind him.

She wrote a note in her folder as the color began to run down the walls and the pictures opposite her began to fade. As she finished, she closed the folder and looked over to the large window. Aria let out a sigh, but the emotion behind it felt unclear. “There’s a long way to go…”

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - The Flood (4/4) Dried Up

(This is the #4 of a 4-part blog. These are all from months ago, and it took me a long time to form them into the right words, to get it all together. You can also find them with my #theflood tag below if you find it hard to get them straight.)

Several months ago…

They all met in the Library chamber. It was an awkward moment of silence as Azure approached the table. “What happened?”

Mari scoffed. “While you were off having a snow walk we had a breakdown. Aqua attacked, Crimson is locked in Lexi's chambers and Darkside was caught walking her right through the door to our home.”

“He's here as well, yes?” Azure turned his gaze from Mari to Bastion, who seemed more than a little bit smug.

“Honestly, I'm not sure to buy his story but Duske, Zane, Skeith and I caught him with coordinated attacks. He says he was sent down for recon and took this opportunity to reach back to us. The way the gate was opened suggests it was forced from the other side so it’s more than likely that he did it himself.”

Azure nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. I told him I wanted Aqua lured into a trap, and Duske was designed to be able to seal someone within.” He glanced over Bastion's shoulder to where a suit of armor sat on its knees, hands bound backwards. “It looks like it worked but not for the correct target. Damn.”

Bastion shook his head. “Of course you had some kind of secret plan. You couldn’t give anyone else a heads up, could you? We could have been ready for this. Instead we have Mari, Zane and Audio all wounded and Artisan is gone.”

Azure looked around the room. Mari's face was scarred, Zane was very gently assembling a new arm with only his right hand, Audio and Engine were missing as well as Artisan. “What happened to them?”

Zane spoke up, “Well Darkside bent my wrist so far back my forearm exploded, Crimson threw Audio down into a staircase and shattered his physical form, and Engine’s book was ripped up and he went full exorcist on the undercroft before returning to Audio's side. Lexi stitched the book back together but he’s gonna need a few days to pull himself together. Ink is fucking everywhere down there. They’re both in their rooms. As for Artisan, he got to Aqua as she was going to kill Mari and ended up getting abducted. She took him under.”

Tech stood up. “I’m going to the bulkhead to check on it. I’ll stay there as gatekeeper for a while. When you are ready, I’ll let you pass into the Bin. Don’t be long, as Artisan surely doesn’t have forever.”

As he exited the room, Mari stood up. “Jaxx and Kaje are coming with me. They are more resilient than most of you. Bane, will you come along?” His arm was damaged, but partially functional after Aqua's assault.

Bane went to push his chair back, but as he stood Mikendo grabbed his shoulder and forced him back into the large wooden seat. “No dice, mate. Imma head out instead.” He walked around the table to where Azure stood. He shot him a solemn smirk for a moment and then sighed. “I’m gonna need it back now.”

Azure stared into Mikendo’s eyes. There was only ever one gift, so there wasn’t much else to say. Azure closed his eyes and held his hands out, cupped upwards. There was a whistle as he focused, dull at first and then growing to that of a teapot. A golden light formed in his hands, whipping around until it formed a solid gold sphere. Mikendo placed his hand atop it and there was a snap, a burst of wind, and a dull flash of light. Azure opened his eyes and the golden ring in them had faded away. The exchange was complete, for the time being.

Mikendo let out a sigh and ran his fingers under his hat and into his hair. The hat fell to the ground and his short, orange hair showed through. The blond had vanished. As he opened his eyes the green had grown more yellow, flecks of gold shining as his gaze turned to Mari. He spoke without his normal accent. “Well, now I’m ready to go and fight Aqua. What are we waiting for?” He had returned to being the man he once was; Mikendo had returned to being Scythe. However, this transformation was not complete; could never be complete without Audio. No, this would be a fleeting form for him, one that he would wear only when full of dark emotions, like now when his brother may be killed by his sister. He wouldn’t take any chances.

Mari nodded at him. “That sounds good. So we have the four of us. Anyone else?”

Hush stood from his corner seat and nodded. “I can’t enter but I would like to help. I have a connection to the Bin, while you’re inside I can use you guys like circuits to control aspects of your environment. I’ll do my best to turn situations in your favor.”

Jaxx rippled under his human skin. Dark veins pulsed as he let out a heavy sigh, a rumble resembling a growl hiding just beneath his voice. His frustration was nearly overwhelming. “I’m going to wait at the gate. I can’t be here anymore.” He stood with force, his chair falling over as he did so. He then rippled and sank into his own shadow, which swam across the ground and underneath the Library door.

Kaje nodded, standing hesitantly. “I’ll do the same. We shouldn’t be alone right now.” He turned, faded into smoke, and glided along the floor and through the crack in the door.

Azure spoke to Mari and Scythe. “You guys be careful. She’s not going to go down without a fight. She’s been waiting for a long time for a chance to do this.”

They both drew their weapons as they said “I’m counting on it.” Mari and Scythe then walked down the carpet and out the large doors.

Azure sighed. “This is not how I wanted my morning to progress.”

There was an eerie deadness to the air within the Chronos Bin. Where thin fog and an uncomfortable static once filled the air, there was now a stifling silence. The dimness that once cascaded down through the fog had thickened to darkness, lit only by weak lanterns of blue light that were stretched few and far between. Tech closed the bulkhead behind them and stood guard, bumping his fists to Scythe's as they began to fan out.

Jaxx called out first. “Blood here. It’s thick and rich, must be from Artisan.” The other three drew near and they all examined their surroundings. Outlines of dying flora hardly stood out among the black. “Curious how she managed to move him. He’s a big guy, for such a soft voice. She’s the opposite.”

Scythe scoffed. “Wit and cruelty are her weapons. She likely prepared for this, so maybe she had some beasties around to help, or she used her water to make a dolly.” He ran his fingers through his hair, from bright orange tips to dark roots. “She got Artisan in the arm, yeah? That would certainly inhibit his ability to fight back.”

Mari pushed passed the boys and to a small gap low in the branches. Kaje came up behind her, his pale, feathered flesh letting off just enough light. “Okay boys, it looks like she definitely went this way. I see what looks like water flow here. The ground is soft like a riverbed.” Her eyes narrowed. “We have a trail.” She held her right hand back and Kaje coiled around it, forming a glowing shield on her arm she then used to hold the bramble out of the way.

They continued to follow the trail until they met a great gate, stone walls extending out in both directions on its side. This was the end of their safe zone. The area up until now existed within a great hall, which plants wound in and out of through broken stained glass windows. When they arrived at the doors they creaked open invitingly. Scythe pat the door as he walked through it. “We’ll return soon, Hush.” The others followed him out into the exterior. They knew nothing of what waited beyond.

Outside of the Cathedral shaped building, the sky above them was cracked, the infinite blackness letting through thins cracks of light as the ocean overhead began to bleed down. At this rate, the sea they looked upon each morning would be all dried up soon. The area around them was once full of life, albeit a twisted form full of beasts, shadows, and nightmare plants. Now it more resembled a wasteland where Death awaited them. After a moment they saw dim beacons appear in the distance. They found a trail of moisture, and without any doubt they followed the trail to Her.

Her hideout was decayed, an old building that wore a broken emblem from a forgotten time, the building in which four worked as one for years until their uneasy team broke apart. What once resembled a town hall now instead had fallen to ruin, the clock tower's hands fallen meekly to the bottom numbers, never to move again. At the window Mari could see in to the building where Aqua stood. She leaned on a counter that had seen much wear and tear, and before her the back of the building was gone, instead a thick black ice stretched up and into the cracked sky.

Artisan's voice echoed through the chamber from the back. “I’m surprised you haven’t ended me yet.” He was half-embedded in the ice, his wounded shoulder and the same leg both frozen in place. He couldn’t work with the soft ground around him.

“Honestly, I don’t plan to. I can’t put us back together how we used to be if you’re gone. That makes my job harder.”

He scoffed. “You really think you can put it back how it once was? It’ll never be the four of us again. Tech has deteriorated to the ghost of who he was, and Mikendo actually likes who he is. If I’m being honest, I didn’t enjoy myself back then either. Atlas was a phase.”

“Well, either way I’m sure they won’t leave you here forever. It wasn’t my plan to take hostages, but I’m sure it will work out. Darkside and my pet are still up there anyways.”

Artisan shook his head, and wrinkled his nose as he grimaced toward the mountain of black ice he had been fused to. “This smells rancorous. How did you manage to even make such a poison?”

Aqua chuckled. “Honestly, Alexander, it’s your innocence of this matter that tickles me. I didn’t make any of it. It bled down here from higher up, sinking down through the layers one by one and filtered through your great Tower above. The dark fluid has been repressed, bottled up. When it overflowed it sank into everything, started affecting all of us. Down here, only the most powerful aspects survived. I didn’t always have this plan, but in the last decade there’s been so much of this I had to. Your precious Sorrow failed you. This is all his doing, his fault. When I’m done with him, there won’t be any more sorrow, and this dark depression you’re quite literally stuck in will begin to evaporate. I'm sick of the weakness.”

Artisan stared at her, and then looked up through the ceiling’s many gaps to find the glacier extending upwards. Above them was one of the many glowing cracks, a viscous fluid draining through. “All of that?”

“Emotion. Dark ones, too. You can taste it, can’t you? Hate, betrayal, heartbreak and self-depreciation. It’s like a fluid suicide, perfectly preserved deep inside. Nothing is done with it. This feeling of oblivion builds up more and more, so it’s really no surprise at all that we’re suffering. The pain is being banked, Alexander.”

Artisan stared at her for a long time, silent. His mind raced, this information shaking his core. He had always thought that he had kept things under control. It appeared that she had convinced him into uncertainty. His eyes looked beyond her for a fraction of a second before closing. “I understand.”

Aqua raised a brow. “Good.” She then leaned back, flipping over the counter and grabbing a long pole with a blade on the tip. As she landed on her feet, she pivoted her body toward the doorway where Mari stood with a white shield on her arm. “My, my. You came right back to me!”

Mari glared. “I will never be a part of you.”

Aqua smirked. “You’ll always be a part of me. You can’t control that.”

Mari spun her arm, her ring-shaped blade gaining speed before she threw it forward. Aqua swung her glaive in an arc and caught the weapon, pinning it to the ground. As Aqua drew the tip from the soil Mari ran up to her, hand extended back toward her own shadow. The shadow grew a hand, Jaxx pulling his form from the dark and twisting his figure into a spined sword. Mari parried the glaive with Jaxx, then rose Kaje and used his hard surface to parry a blow from the crystal at the end of Aqua’s long hair.

Aqua kicked off of the counter and stepped on Kaje to get passed Mari. Once behind her, the ground beneath her cracked and a grey hand extended to grab Aqua's ankle as she tried to turn.

Mari took the opportunity and sliced at the back of Aqua's knee. In a pained reaction, Aqua’s crystal stabbed back toward Mari. She dropped Jaxx to the ground and grabbed the sharp shard, not even wincing at it cut into her palm.

Aqua struggled to break free, then looked up to see Scythe before her. “You… you’re back to yourself.”

Scythe glared down at her. “Yeah, that would be your fault.” He spun his scythe and held it out, the blade curling around Aqua's neck. “Any last words?”

Her eyes filled with panic, she tried to pull away but found the grip of Hush on her leg tighten alongside Mari's. “I just-“

“Nah.” Scythe turned around, tightened his grip on the shaft of his weapon and pulled tight. There was a shriek, and then the sound of slicing filled the room. Suddenly, the cold in the air faded away. Aqua's glaive melted into a rancid black liquid. He didn’t turn to look at her as he took the long way around the room. It was a familiar path to where Artisan was trapped; he sighed in relief. “I really thought you were about to behead her.”

Mari pulled the braid of hair from the cold glowing crystal and let the long, loose hairs fall around the now short-haired Aqua. The brilliant blue began to bleed out of her, becoming pale and palid. She was powerless, and without drive. “Only doom remains…”

Mari narrowed her eyes and tossed Kaje at her. Kaje warped his form into hard shackles, wrapping around her arms and feet. Jaxx rose from the ground and leaned down to growl in her face. “Your pet killed what I loved. It’s poetic that my little sister helped save Alexia's life.” He then grabbed her throat, his form warping around her as well to form a large collar with spines. He wouldn’t let her escape again.

Scythe placed his palm on the black ice. It hummed, then cracked. With his other hand he grabbed Artisan's free shoulder and yanked him free. Artisan's face was one of disbelief. “Wow… I never thought I’d see you wear that face again.”

Scythe stared straight at the wound on Artisan's shoulder. There were dark black veins stretching out like a spider's web. He looked away, his eyes instead focused on an old table with four seats. “I didn’t really have a choice. At the time my oldest friend was being dragged into an endless graveyard by his worst enemy. I was pretty sure you were going to die.”

Artisan nodded. “Mhmm… Did you hear what she said?” He pulled his tattered sleeve down to cover the wound.

“Yeah. Gonna think on that for a while. Let’s get outta here though.” He turned around, walked passed Mari. “Hush, let her go.”

The grey hand softened into soil and Mari grabbed Aqua, pulling her to her feet. They walked the long path back. As they got to the Bulkhead again, Tech’s eyes met hers. The blue had begun to fade from them. “Tech… I’m s-“

The collar rippled, growing over her face. Tech frowned. “Jaxx, let her speak?”

A fanged mouth grew over her face. “No. Her actions have said enough.”

She stared back at him riddled with guilt as they walked her onto the pad and then vanished in a bright light. She looked over her shoulder to him, certain that it would be the final time their eyes would meet.

Back in the city, they came through to find Azure, Bastion, and Damien there waiting. Damien stood first. “Artisan, are you all right?” They had a short talk. Damien had already begun to plan repairs and requested his help.

Bastion approached Mari and took possession of Aqua's chains. He knew where to bring her. Scythe was looking around at the city's many pipes, and then out the window to see that the ocean had vanished almost entirely, and the city was slowly growing closer to the ground. They would land soon.

Azure walked up to him. “You did a good job. It looks like nobody was hurt. I can take that back for you, now.” He held out his hand.

Scythe slowly looked at him, then down to the hat that Azure held in his other hand. He snatched the hat and slid it on, his eyes fading back to their green tint as the hair color lessened. Mikendo once more, he then placed his hand on Azure’s shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “Yeah…” He glanced over to Artisan, who was showing Damien his wound. “That aint gonna happen.” He turned away and walked up the stairs. Azure look after him in disbelief before turning his gaze to the permanent sunset on the horizon. Change had finally come.

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - The Flood (3/4) Dark Wave

(This is the #3 of a 4-part blog. These are all from months ago, and it took me a long time to form them into the right words, to get it all together. You can also find them with my #theflood tag below if you find it hard to get them straight.)

Several months ago…

“You see, Skeith, the real workings of a machine come down to the individual pieces. If even one doesn’t fit right, the entire thing can break apart. Malfunctions are often due to wear or misuse.” He closed a clock face and turned to Skeith, who had expanded an arm up to act as scaffold for his friend.

“I mean, yeah but it’s just a clock, or a microwave, or a train.” Skeith lowered Zane to the ground and shrugged.

“Train has to work to go places, Skeith. You and I work together, which is why things get done.” Zane perked up an ear. “Aw, man… You hear something funny? Like leaking?”

“Well the sky has looked funny all day so it's probably something bad. The sun randomly fell a few minutes ago.”

Not too far from where they stood a rectangle of light suddenly extended through the ground. Bastion rolled out of it and a dark figure was tossed upwards into the air, their silhouette shown in a negative light thanks to the red glare of the broken ring of light on the horizon. Bastion turned and shouted, “Where’s Duske?!”

Before Zane could make a witty comment, Skeith interrupted with “Base of the tower. He’s manning the clock breaker.”

“Keep him busy!” Bastion ran towards the tower and with a slash of his blade he cut himself a hole.

Zane threw his arms up in frustration. “WE JUST FIXED THE CLOCK TOWER!” He looked back as the dark form slammed into the ground with a metallic clatter. The distorted form of Darkside rose with the sounds of chains. He was armed with his crude swords, chained at each wrist by a short length of metal. “Oh. Him.” Zane held out his right hand and his spear appeared from a strange glyph in the air. “Fucking fantastic.”

As Darkside stormed forward, Zane made a wide slash to stop him. He then spun the weapon around himself, which sent a volley of weak strikes forward and sent Darkside on the offensive. His form covered by his usually subtle permeating darkness, his voice sounded demonic as he demanded: “Get out of my way or suffer the consequence.”

“I don’t really take orders.” Zane pushed back as Darkside did, and as Darkside swung he found his strike parried by Zane. A second and third held the same result, until he surprised Zane by swinging and then releasing the handle of his sword. The chain caught tight, and his sword coiled around the spear. “Skeith!”

Skeith came from the left with a large-bodied haymaker, only to find his moment stopped abruptly as DS caught the blow with his other hand. Darkside scoffed at their attempt, forcing Skeith backwards with a pulse of dark purple mist. “Futile. I know what I’m doing, Zane.”

“Well, Lightbringer said to keep you busy so that’s what I’ll do.” Zane tossed his weapon up, causing the chain to uncoil from around it and the sword to land on the ground. Zane spun, caught the spear and stabbed forward.

Darkside leaned to the side and caught the spear just beyond it’s head.

Zane smirked with confidence, balled his left fist up as the mechanisms within his metal arm activated, and sent his fist flying towards Darkside's face as the metal panels clicked back one by one, rapid fire.

Darkside lifted his right hand, releasing his sword, and caught Zane's punch. A wave of force washed over him, blowing away his demonic guise for a moment. Darkside's eyes were uneven, dark and menacing, like a vortex of tv static riled by a ghost. A sad satisfaction crossed his eyes as he said “Consequence.”

Darkside squeezed Zane's prosthetic hand. The plating bent under stress in the first second, but then gave way. As it cracked, hydraulic hisses were released. Zane showed momentary hesitance as he said a brief “Don’t-“ before Darkside slowly bent his hand backwards.

Zane dropped to a knee to avoid structural damage. “Submit.” Darkside demanded him. Zane released the spear, braced his arm and winced. “Submit!” Zane cried out in pain, and punched Darkside in his chest but with zero effect. “Submit, fool!” Darkside roared.

Zane screamed “I would never!” and with very little effort Darkside cracked the metal hand back and into the left wrist, entirely destroying any functionality of the left arm. Zane was done.

It was at this point that a pulse echoed throughout the city, a pained moan to signify danger and alert. Darkside looked up as Bastion followed Duske out of the Tower's main door. The clock now ticked forward as well as the warning being sent.

Darkside smirked at Bastion as his dark shroud covered him once more. He let go of Zane’s hand and pat his head. “Nice force punch, kid.” As He stepped away, Zane fell to the ground and clutched his arm in agony. It would be a couple more minutes before he gathered the courage to disconnect the destroyed arm.

Duske held out a hand. “I advise you walk no further.”

Bastion held his sword between them. “Hold, Duske. He’s armored up again and we have beef. This will only be a minute. I have an ace.”

Darkside tugged the chains bound up his arms and re-quipped his blades. Bastion ran towards him with three swipes, each of which sent out and arc of light that acted as long-distance blows. Darkside used his two crude blades to deflect these. “This doesn’t need to continue.”

“Doesn’t it?” Bastion met him with swift katana slashes as Darkside parried blows unenthusiastically. One blow managed to off-balance Darkside a single pace, which was enough for Bastion to sever a chain and for Darkside to drop one of his swords. As it bounced away Darkside wrapped his other sword's chain around Bastion's blade. “Ace!” Bastion yelled, as he stabbed the sword point into the stone between his feet and hopped backwards.

A shadow appeared over Darkside and he looked up to see a massive Skeith above him, with full golem form. He put his hands together and slammed them down over Darkside.

Darkside winced, prepared, unable to act otherwise while pinned by the sword. He peeked after hearing the slam to see he stood between large hands, his shroud being the only loss. Merely unprotected.

It was then that Duske sent forth the armor, invading and imprisoning Darkside within its clutches. He frantically mumbled within as the armor whispered to him “Sorry if this is too tight. You understand.”

Bastion approached him as Skeith shrunk and Zane tore the artificial limb off in a roar of pain. Bastion couldn’t even help but smirk in Darkside’s face as he said “I had help, but I just fucking beat you.”

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - The Flood (2/4) Red Wave

(This is the #2 of a 4-part blog. These are all from months ago, and it took me a long time to form them into the right words, to get it all together. You can also find them with my #theflood tag below if you find it hard to get them straight.)

Several months ago…

Engine and Audio wandered the lower levels of the city to try and level their heads. An air of discomfort had taken the entire city by storm, and the sky beyond the city walls had darkened in response. Audio was still unwell, the cracks in his porcelain-like skin having spread and begun to crumble in places he moved often. His flesh was old, a temporary shell for a once passing thought. He would need a new form soon, but continued to put it off for anxiety on what the change may do to him. He put a lot of things off because of anxiety. Engine meanwhile was clutching his bound notebook and thinking of any possible solutions to calm his brother for the coming transition. “Well I doubt you’ll end up like Duske, cuz he was damaged in an integral way. It will be more like how Alexia ended up I think, where they’ll use something surplus to bolster you.”

Audio stopped along a raised walkway above another short road. He leaned on the railing looking down. “I don’t really want either of those. One of them turns me into some kind of machine, and the other completely alters my core. I want to remain who I am, not to change.”

“We all change as we grow older, Audio. Eventually we may not even recognize who we have become. Just look at how different Bastion is from his time back when he was Nero, or even who he was before then! Each of us is vulnerable to being changed, being damaged, and even growing where we once failed to do so.”

“I just don’t want the changes I make to damage my relationship. What if I’m not the kind of man who I am today? It may be better to stay like this instead of trying to evolve. I need to just get another shell like mine.”

“But the shells are all temporary. Mikendo did everything he could think of to prolong their existence and he still needed to say goodbye to his closest friend eventually.”

“She wasn’t like me though, I’m unique for the type of being I am.”

“That’s why you’re sick, Audio. Your body is rejecting your energy or whatever you are on the inside. It’s kinda like a glass of water, and the room keeps getting louder until the glass can’t handle it anymore. When that glass shatters, the water will need somewhere to go.”

There was a rumble above, and dust fell from the pipes overhead. Audio's ears perked up. “Something isn’t right.”

“Is it ever? Whatcha hear?” Engine was cut short by Audio raising a hand and turning around. He aimed his ear to the end of the hall. He heard a gushing, a rippling, a dripping. There was a snap, a scream, a burst of wind… thumps, and tiny footsteps alongside a bloody sloshing sound.

“We aren’t safe here.” Audio clenched his fists as Lexi hit the bottom of a staircase and came around the corner to the hallway. Her face was one of panic, and she cursed under her breath as her eyes met theirs. She screamed for them to run, which is when the Crimson One tore around the corner, slamming into the wall with a splat and then throwing itself in the trio's direction. Engine stepped aside, pressing himself to the inner wall to let Lexi run by. Audio stepped into the path and flicked his wrists forward, sending a soundwave forward with enough force to tear the fluid form of the Crimson One apart. It splattered onto the walls, floor, and ceiling for a moment, before pulling itself back together and charging along the floor. Audio let out another wave, to which the beast levelled itself along the flat floor until the blast passed it by. In a single moment it appeared between Audio and Engine.

They shared a slight moment of terror before the Crimson One expanded between them. It’s surface grew into thin, sharp spines as it bevelled, then forced them both back as it charged on by. Audio was slammed through the handrail of the bridge and dropped down onto the horizontal lines of the stairs below with a plaster-like shatter. Engine was slammed into the wall and cut along his arms and his face, which he seemed not to care about as he looked down and saw the pages of his notebook falling loose and scattering on the ground. The spine of his book had been cut. His face contorted further to one of pure horror as he kneeled down and started snatching pages to try and fit them back together. Both the edges of the pages and Engine’s new cuts began to bleed black ink, and his many tattoos began bleeding through his pressed shirt and his warm vest. He was changing, and his very own shadow began to grow thicker and more real by the instant. This strange form continued to cover him until it entirely consumed him. He stopped suddenly, holding most of the pages in one hand… then he smirked and let them all go. They went in every direction, floating down off of the bridge and landing around Audio's broken form as Engine ran after Lexi. A small sound escaped Audio's dry lips.

Lexi ran down the winding halls from the Crimson One, creating barriers as she went to deflect her momentum around the many corners. This helped her to create distance between herself and the enemy. She had an idea, but it was risky. She descended a staircase onto an elevated walkway that hugged the side of a building and grabbed a pipe at the corner to swing herself around. There she saw Audio and Engine in front of her, much to her dismay. She wanted to tell them to run, to scream at them to get away, but her lungs burned with exhaustion. Her chest pained upon each breath, her tired legs bagging her to stop. She couldn’t. They parted ways for her to slip through and she did so, running to the end of the corridor and peeking over her shoulder at the end. She could no longer see the brothers – only the wave of red behind her at her heels. She hoped that they would be all right. Her room wasn’t far now, just a little farther… At the end of this next span of pathway there was an open clearing where the elevated path went around. As she reached it she leapt into the open air, creating another barrier below her feet and jumping again to reach the far railing. Then, her foot slipped. She dropped into the pathway with a slam, sliding on the moist concrete in pain. From her new low angle she watched the Crimson One bridge the gap with no extra effort, coming down from over her. It had her for sure, she thought.

The twisted form of Engine reached the hallway in time to see Lexi leap across and then eat pavement. As the Crimson One lowered itself to pounce, Engine held up both arms. His cross-shaped tattoos once turned into small cannons. Now, his hand held hollow tubes where color filled like faulty ink canisters. As the monster leapt into the air the colors flew and the Crimson One was knocked far off target. Engine then charged forward and crashed through the handrails and over Lexi with two strides. His projectile had covered the surface of the Crimson One like a layer of latex. His hand outstretched like a large claw and with a swipe he split the monster in two. The two halves spilled out of the latex-like substance and reformed. Many green eyes opened and centered on Engine; the surface of Crimson split into a giant jaw which closed around Engine's arm and tore it off. After a moment of staring, Engine’s arm suddenly regrew from the shadows behind him.

Lexi took this time to turn around, sliding under the broken rail and onto the bottom level of the undercroft. She began making her way to her room again as the two crashed down into the clearing behind her. She finally reached her door and tore it open, sliding just inside and pressing her small body against the wall in the hallway.

The Crimson One escaped from Engine's grasp and tore down the hall toward Lexi like a tornado. Every appendage that reached forward to drag its form started like a mouth and then grew claws. Engine was close behind. The Crimson one reached the doorway and slid in, turning and opening the side of its body like a huge maw facing Lexi. There was another Boom, followed by a wave of wet, dark colors and suddenly Lexi had space. She pulled herself out of the room and grabbed the door as Crimson tore itself from the colored prison and lurched forward. Lexi slammed the door just before it was close enough to reach and… silence.

“Whew…” Lexi took a breath as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and smiled before saying “Thank you En- Ahhhh!” She slid down the door in fear as she looked at Engine. Black lines bled from his eyes and mouth, like thick ink. “O-oh uh. Vehdroh, Th-thanks for helping me…”

“Huuurt…” His eyes had changed from yellow to a dark smoldering red.

She looked down to his hip, where only a few pages of paper remained attached to the back cover of his notebook, held by a small braid. “Your book, I can fix that easy if you take me…” she began to reach out for it, but Engine's hand snapped forward and grabbed onto her wrist.

“Huuurt!” His yell was filled with an emotional pain, and she responded with a shriek of her own as his touch started to burn her.

Lexi wrenched her hand from his grip and looked at him with a regretful pain, but turned her gaze quickly to her wrist where the image of a musical note had been inked into her skin. Her eyes widened as she looked back to Engine. “Where is he?!”

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - The Flood (1/4)

(This is the #1 of a 4-part blog. These are all from months ago, and it took me a long time to form them into the right words, to get it all together. You can also find them with my #theflood tag below if you find it hard to get them straight.)

Several months ago...

Azure stood, staring out at the ocean below, the rusted tops of buildings poking through it’s agitated surface like pins through cloth. The surface of this great sea rippled like rainfall, but flipped around like the drops were coming from below. The wards keeping the two separate were growing weak, and the barrier was close to tearing. It wouldn’t take much now, nor would it be long. He knew it was coming to a head, and his emotional state was similar. For a few hours now he had tried to drown back this conflict, but finally it was upon him. He played with a dark circle on his finger and then vanished into the outside world. Nobody expected what would come next.

Artisan and Mikendo rested in a large circular area outside the Library, sitting with Clora and Lexi as they played a small game with a board and dice. Mikendo had a tendency to win due to his quick reactions, but Artisan's prolonged deep thought would occasionally prosper. Their conversation was full of laughter, but forced a hit as if to try and relieve a tension. Mikendo rolled the dice and quickly snatched a green piece, moving it to corner a silver-painted one. “Check, mate.”

“But not checkmate.” Artisan grabbed the dice from the board as a sound distant but high in pitch shifted overhead, sliding across the sky. They each looked over as the ring of light high in their sky slid down to meet the ocean's horizon line. There it cracked, leaving two fourth-circles visible over the water, reflected perfectly by the tumultuous surface. The area between shone red for a single moment, like a stray beam of light coming to greet them. The elevator nearby began to glow, and then the bluish-gold light erupted into a violent red-violet. Mikendo lifted up his hands and then slammed them down as the light reached it’s peak, and a strange fluid built up into a crimson blob.

Mikendo soared upward as his burst of air pushed the gameboard and pieces in every direction. His friends all fell backwards as the crimson blob lurched toward them and sliced the ground where they stood with a loud crack. This blob rose into a form similar to Jaxx and Kage. Many green eyes opened along it’s head and down along the spine, each looking in different directions for a moment before centering on two targets, Clora and Lexi. A terror built up in Lexi's core and she pushed forward, emitting a wave that was barely visible. This manipulation bent around the Crimson one and impacted Clora, sending her back to the wall of the library where the wave hardened into a clear container. A thin splash of the Crimson one followed, slamming into the hardly visible surface like a mouth. The creature then turned to Lexi and gave her all attention. Artisan sat back up, having knocked over from the burst of air. By the time Mikendo had hit the ground again, Lexi had already turned away and began running. Clora pounded on the field holding her in place in panic as she was helpless to only watch. Two seconds had passed before Artisan slammed his hands down and brought a line of narrow stone pillars up from the ground between his little sister and the monster following. It did little to stop the creature, but slowed it down as it bulldozed through. Mikendo hopped up the broken fragments to gain height again before spinning in the air with his scythe and sending a razor wind toward his foe. The air split through the Crimson one and it reformed together on the far side of the debris field. Lexi turned a corner by making another small panel to push off of. The Crimson one slammed into it for a second before it’s surface grew numerous clawed hands it used to crawl along the wall after her.

The library doors creaked open just in time for Damien to see the Crimson one escape the courtyard after Lexi. Mikendo didn’t hesitate to pursue. Artisan turned to Damien. “Bane! It’s Crimson. Help Clora.”

Damien stared as the color drained from his face. “Behind you.”

Artisan turned to see the elevator pad grow in dark colors, the violet evolving into a deep, royal purple. A flood of small beasts cracked through the ground as the rift tore open wide. Dozens of smaller adversaries poured through. As they approached Artisan, a ring of light etched around the gate and rose into a wall, razing any that charged into it. Artisan stumbled back as it nearly took his fingers, only to watch the ring of light begin to fade and see Bastion across the courtyard with his sword impaled into the ground. He looked tired, annoyed, and a little ill as he shivered. The ground rippled again, very few of the dark beasts still within. A vaporous black ink around them caused their forms to be hard to see. A look of disbelief crossed their faces as a familiar figure walked out of the ring next. He was hooded, in dark padding with sharp details. He jangled like a tightly wound chain as he stepped forward, the rift below rippling and then rising like water at his feet. After a moment of examination, Darkside stepped off of the pad that had linked to the Chronos Bin. He gazed at Artisan a moment, but the fading light caused him to turn toward Bastion. As the defense ended and the water flowed past his feet, Bastion's eyes widened and he drew his sword from the stone below with a grunt. “Mother fucker.” His red eyes burned toward Darkside. “You fucking did it, didn’t you Derek?”

Darkside let out a cocky “Hmph” before holding his hands out and the running of chains sounded. In a single moment he was wielding two crude swords chained to his wrists, and he dove through the air at Bastion. Bastion slashed the ground between them and a wall of light rose beneath Darkside, sending the both of them sailing upwards into the next level of the city.

Bane released whatever had sealed Clora to the wall and the two of them approached the ring, where the remaining beasts had begun to escape. Damien swung a greatsword forward, his offhand holding a small shotgun engraved “Scarlet Rose” while Clora swung an electrified whip to beat them back. They assaulted what felt like endlessly as they critters slipped through in lower and lower numbers. “We'll be cleaning this for weeks,” Damien said as Clora let out a soft grunt to agree.

Finally, the gate began to ripple closed. As it shrank the water forced through in heavier amounts, until it rose up to the height of a person. It was then that the rush stopped, and the water fell downwards to the ground. Outside, the sea's surface came to sudden halt as She came through the Gate. Finally in her own skin, Aqua the betrayer stood at the center of Eclipse City. Her long hair braided down her back where a blue crystal was tied to the end, glowing cooly. Her figure was fit, yet buxom in the right places to allow her to easily balance and maneuver. So smooth in her movements, she flowed through the beasts surrounding her like water would pass by a field of trees.

Clora was first. Aqua grabbed her by the throat and slammed her beneath the water's surface. The pink electricity quickly dispersed through the great pond they’d suddenly found themselves in. Snuffed out. As Damien rose his shotgun toward her, a spear of ice grew from the water he stood in and through his arm, growing and cracking upon impact and causing his trigger-pull to go off-target. His reconstructed arm had failed him, and he was trapped. Aqua screamed, “I came back from death to put myself together again, not be torn apart!” A second hand reached over to Clora's throat and squeezed. Aqua's hair rose behind her, sopped in the water she came with. The crystal positioned over Clora's screaming, drowned face. “I was gonna pick up my innocence last, but you’re ripe for picking…”

A drop of blood landed in the water, caused by the pillar of cement shooting out of the ground and hitting Aqua in her face. She flew backwards as Clora shot up, her chest heaving as she coughed up water and struggled to breathe. Clora stumbled backwards to her feet, noticing after a moment that she no longer had her weapon in hand. Terror filled her heart before Artisan stepped between her and Aqua. “You’re as rude and bitchy as always.” His knuckles paled as his fist coiled around a stone club.

“Ha!” Aqua wiped blood from her lip and spit. “Still so very serious, Atlas. You remain a little slow though.” The water crackled, a flash freeze echoing through the fluid and over Artisan's feet. He didn’t pay it mind, instead keeping his grip tight. Spears of ice rose around him from all directions, and he slammed the tip of the club into the ice. As the spears met his tough skin they each shattered, as well as the ice by his feet. His quake had travelled just quickly enough. “Mikendo and I play often, he’s made me a bit quicker.”

“It’s a shame that Scythe isn’t here now… I wanted to play with him too.” Aqua heard the splashes coming closer, reinforcements were closing in. She rose her hands up, like cradling a ball of sorts. The water rose behind her in a great wave, crashing down with force as she swung both hands down. The water forced Clora and Damien backwards and slammed them into the walls of the courtyard, freezing up and over each of the walkways leading out. Artisan stood steady, the stone below his feet clinging over his legs like arms. It released him as he stepped forward. He opened his mouth to quip, but was interrupted as one of the ice walls shattered and a red blur entered into the clearing. Low to the ground and covered in a dark cloth, Mari seemed to glide across the ice to where Aqua stood. A long, round blade like a ring swung out and just barely missed Aqua's head as she leaned back. Aqua rose a leg and spun. With one kick to the core, Mari felt all the air leave her lungs. Aqua spun around until she was facing Artisan again, smirking widely as she saw him once more. “That’s two pieces that just ran right to me, like they want to come home!” She pressed down on Mari's chest with her clawed heel. Mari wailed in pain and went to swing, only to find her weapons stuck to the ground by the thin frost. It made sense, as Mari's abilities all used her blood as a base. There was a hiss and a whine before the ice wall cracked apart, steaming chunks from one of the many corridors landing with soft thuds. Techtonica stomped into the courtyard with a great burning blade in hand. “The waters rose and flooded my island. I knew you would be coming soon.”

“There are an awful lot of you here. Now Tech, aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“I could ask you the same. Why are you even here? How did you breach the Bin?”

“I planted a little seed and when it blossomed I used it to claw my way out! I got lucky when I came across the revenant wandering through the underworld, and he showed me a tiny crack I was able to widen.” Aqua smirked, her pride overflowing. “I just had to wait for the right moment, right here. With proper pressure, the veil weakens and we can escape back to this place.”

Tech narrowed his gaze. “When you say Revenant, you mean Derek Siren? I’m appalled that he would do such a thing to help you. Nobody even likes you.” He raised a brow. “In fact, I’m surprised even the beasts listen to you.”

“What can I say? I’ve found that I’m intoxicating…” The crystal upon her hair was positioned just above Mari's throat. As she gulped, the cold, sharp tip gently grazed her flesh. “Now, if you come even a step closer then this one joins me down below.”

Mari turned her head toward Clora, and the two of them shared a look of despair. Mari mouthed the word “Sorry” to Clora before lifting her head and slicing the side of her face along the sharp edge. As she bled, it grew out straight instead of flowing like a liquid. She released the handle of the ring blade and grabbed the sharp spike of blood and swung it forward.

Aqua turned in surprise as Mari cut herself, the following swing went to Aqua's leg. She leapt back out of the range of the swing and then lowered herself, impaling Mari in the thigh with the crystal on her hair. Tech took this moment of distraction to charge forward, his large sword swinging down over Aqua. Aqua responded in turn by leaping back onto Mari -full bodied – and then rolling over her and dragging her across the icy floor toward the circle in the center of the room. As she was nearly upon it, Artisan stepped between her and the ring.

Aqua slid a moment, as if she would stop, but then changed her tune after a second, and leapt atop Artisan. Her crystal tore from Mari's leg and instead shot clean through Artisan's left shoulder. As he fell backwards, the two of them landed on the warp pad and in a blue flash they both vanished. Techtonica sighed, tearing his sword from the now cracked ground between his feet.

Mari sat up and turned immediately to Clora. “Sister. Mend me; I’m going after that bitch.” A growing puddle of blood grew beneath her leg, and thin lines of blood ran off of her face from the deep wound and into her dress.

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - Home plus One

Azure sat at the head of the table, resting on a large, stained black, wooden chair with “Sorrow” painstakingly carved into the wood in a text resembling barbed wire. His hands were crossed, his head rested upon then as his eyes, a deep blue with a bright golden ring, narrowed in discomfort. “Honestly, it’s the useless lingering that gets at me more than anything else.

Engine sat in his chair upside down, his legs hanging over the back as he doodled in his notebook. “I think it’s due to loneliness. He doesn’t have anyone left to bond with now that his parents are dead. He only has aunts and siblings who are distant. If not in a relationship then your friends become family, and based on his visiting habits prior to moving in he doesn’t have any of either left who look at him like a real person.”

“Hm. Well he has more than enough to distract himself from the intense self-dejection of the lonely lifestyle. I fail to see why he feels the need to intrude into my matters, but his carefree butt-in attitude is only one such issue that makes me annoyed with the situation. He is also messy. His things end up all over the table and continue to amass there until they spill over. I brought my own table down for that very reason.”

Mari was sat across from Engine, her legs crossed and atop the table as she stared into a small gaming screen. “We also have spilling over items.”

“Which I clear away on a bi-daily basis. I bring them upstairs, clear lingering cups and wash them, wipe surfaces, clear the coins and paper debris, and any other tasks that erase clutter. I don’t like my thinking space to be over-full and it always is since he doesn’t actually seem to have a place to put things. He didn’t bring any productive furniture besides a mattress and a shelf, which he has empty. Like, unpack some shit and put it in your closet or something. I wanna go and get more furniture eventually and he isn’t gonna have the space once the time comes.”

Mari nodded. “What I dislike is that we have lost the alone time. Even when we would usually have quiet time between us and Her, the roommate doesn’t understand that we don’t have the social batteries to converse constantly. A good pair of headphones will be quite useful in that setting.” She winced as her avatar died and she refreshed the level.

Engine flipped around in his seat and sat as a normal person would. “I wanna get the office area set up.”

Lexi yelled from beneath the table, “Project time! I wanna fix the desk!” She then continued coloring a large illustration she had drawn on the underside of the table.

Damien Bane approached from a stairway with a single bound book open in his hands. “My opinion is to create additional tasks and duties to keep everyone more productive during the downtime. If he can’t clean the bedroom because we are resting nearby, then he could be downstairs tidying the common areas. Also, for this office we will require an additional shelving unit for all of the small items we use on a daily basis. Without a top-deck on it or a low-hanging shelf then we find ourselves with merely a single desk, a single chair, three long corkboards and a plethora of boxes.” Damien sat, flipping a page.

Azure nodded. “I intended for the shelf in the living room to be used in the craft room. It will need to be cleared for use now that the holiday is over and our tree is packed up. I think I’m gonna trash it anyways since it no longer functions. What are you reading?”

Lexi could be hear beneath the table whispering “I miss the lights…”

Damien rose a brow at the underside of the table and then replied, “This is Duske Luna's old book. I am reading through it to understand him better. It occurs to me that despite my time studying the armor and assisting with his constitution and dipping process, I know remarkably little about the way he thinks and feels or his time alive with his sister.”

Mari looked up from her game in confusion. “Dude, Duske is right here.”

They both looked to each other, then to Duske who sat in his small seat and large armor. He glanced to Mari, to Bane, and then nodded. “I understand. I do not speak often.” His voice and movements were robotic.

Damien closed the book and looked to Azure. “My problem here is the reliability. Eventually he will start missing bills or slacking on duties.”

“He already failed to clean the bathroom”

“My point exactly. He fails at preparing food and cleaning after himself, can’t trust himself with his own money, and often counts on the two of you two take care of him so in my mind he is basically an old child. I myself am not very fatherly so I will be refraining from scolding him.”

Azure sighed. “Don’t remind me. With Bastion watching the Bulkhead right now I don’t have someone who is willing to go out and be so callo-“

“I can.” Mari closed her gaming device and it set itself to sleep mode. “I’ll say whatever I gotta to the kid to make sure shit gets done. I am already tired of things left around and things left unsaid so I am done. I’ll be the bitch. We are not friends and I don’t need his acceptance to happily live there. In fact, I would prefer to have a place where he doesn’t go or can’t fit to spend the majority of my time in anyways. If he dislikes me and gives me space I'll survive without a problem. I don’t need people in my life who hold me back or hold me down, and WE certainly don’t need more stress or problems.”

Azure and Damien stared at each other for a moment, speaking purely in facial expressions ranging from confusion, to concern, and ending on agreement. Azure said, “Okay. That sounds fine. My opinion is right now he gets off easy anyways, but I get the notion from him that he is saying what we want to hear and then only doing the bare minimum he needs to not get scolded. Textbook procrastination.”

Mari scoffed as she slipped her game into her hoodie pocket, dropping her legs down to the floor. “The only Textbook we will have after I am done is the one I have Engine write me that has all of our rules and regulations in it. I don’t want him going places or doing things that he shouldn’t and I will respectfully do the same. Right now the only place I don’t go is his room, unless his male cat is hounding our Bella or he leaves crap all around and refuses to deal with it. In those cases I walk in, drop the cat/crap and leave. He is quickly going to understand the separation between friends and roommates. We will get along but we will not be besties. I’m not looking for new pals who fill every moment of my life with the same repetitive stories. I got enough of that growing up with Gramma, except her stories always had a lesson instead of an attention grab.”

Engine looked up from his notebook. “You have a lot to say today. Have you had this on your mind? I didn't know I was writing a textbook.”

“Guess so. Either way I’m done with it.” She reached a hand under the table. “Lexia, honey, let’s get you prepared for the Desk project. Gonna have you roll something relaxing first and then you can start in on your tasks.”

Lexi rolled out from the table with a smile, slipping a small pencil box into her satchel on the chair. She grabbed Mari's hand and the two walked out of the room. The heavy door slowly creaked shut.

Duske looked to Damien. “Does it sound like I have a life?”

Damien raised both brows and looked down at the cover of the dark book with a crescent moon on it. “Uhh…” He blew out some air and patted the top of the binding. “Heh. Whew. No, not really. You’re a hard read.”

Duske tapped on his hard armor. “It’s my character, I suppose.”

[tales-of-abysia]

End of the Year Special! - These are back until January 5th!

Since it’s the special, we do customized designs. For example, if you want one with ‘Musician’, ‘Animator’, ‘Programmer’, or anything else, send us an ask and we got you.

There are tees, hoodies, sweatshirts, and mugs. 

https://teespring.com/stores/writing-prompts

[tales-of-abysia]

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - Back to Blue

Jaxx snarled. “I have no pity. This is all your fault to begin with. If you had been smarter than we wouldn’t be in this situation. You have pride and confidence but they’ll ruin you.” He rippled slightly. His surface was bruised, but he was mostly unhindered except for some aches. Jaxx then slipped away, not giving Bastion time to respond but instead sinking into the grate below.

Bash stared at the grate for a moment, and then walked down the undercroft hallway until he rounded a corner. This adjoining passage was scorched black, with debris and stone crumbled in from above. As he wandered to the hole he glanced up and saw the cloudy sky, far above the broken glass dome. There had been some repairs beginning. Beams in place and the sounds of tools as Zane and Skeith were hard at work to recover. It would take some time. Bastion the looked to his right and saw another short alley, this one entire cracked and scorched, warped iron torn from the walls and stretched across the path. With a burst of light Bastion cleared the way and walked forward, through a cracked house and then a broken window. He was standing in a large circular clearing on the lower level of the city. The ground was unevenly blacked out, as if soot had stained it that way. Cracks along it’s surface still glew golden from the fierce flames that had grown from here. He walked to the center where there was a glowing ring and stared into it.

“Are you gonna go?” The soft voice came out through a crackled speaker.

“Hm… Audio.” Bastion stared down at the ring of light. He felt… uncertain. It was new for him.

“I wouldn’t personally be upset. You do tend to make problems for us with your attitude.”

“So outspoken after months of silence? I haven’t heard anything from you since Azure created a council.”

The machine didn’t respond. After a moment, Bastion took a deep breath and stepped on a small button beside the ring. It glew with a glorious brightness.

--

The chamber was a perfect semi-circle; an upper hemisphere of dark form, many small openings lined with harsh blades and spikes were cut into the walls, miasma seeping out to poison any who tried to break this fine containment. This didn’t stop them all though, and this was one such time. He gripped the crooked blades hilts and readied Himself as the clamor outside grew louder and closer. The sound of clashing steel to claws was ringing constantly, and then a yell from a man told Him all He needed to know. The barrier cracked, a large serpent with frilled legs burst through. As He took his stance to fight he let out a roar. There was a bright light and sudden Azure found himself forced backwards.

…

Azure was standing in the city. “What..? This isn’t the bulwark.” He turned and pointed his white sword, taking a second to realize it was Bastion standing in front of him. “Jhet? Why did you pull me out of…” Azure's eyes slowly examined the area around them. The dim sky's grey complexion bled over everything. Color had been sucked out of the walls, the floors cracked and the wind cold. Down each cardinal direction was a platform that overlooked the tumultuous seas below the fiercely clouded sky. “What the fuck have you done to my city?”

“Duske got your old room, his loneliness is affecting the environment and the general mood. Once you were gone things started going sideways. I haven't slept or eaten well in a week. I don’t have any idea where anything I own is and I’ve lost my bearings in the day to day. On top of that, I may have made a big mistake outside.”

Azure absorbed this information for a short moment and clutched his fist. “What the hell did you do to my life this time?”

“I-“ Bastion stopped for a second and grabbed the hilt of his sword. The glowing ring behind Azure lit again and a great serpent appeared, shrieking with victory as it arrived in the city. As Bastion drew his sword, Azure turned and rose his right hand, a wave of golden flames and thick black smoke washing over the beast as it roared in pain. In a single moment it perished; obliterated.

Azure scoffed. “What a waste of supplies.”

Bastion sheathed his weapon on his hip, his gaze fixed on Azure’s attire. After a moment of disbelief he asked “Why are you wearing a cowl of feathers and a scaled tunic?”

Azure looked to his black attire; clearly acquired from victory over creatures like the one he’d just annihilated. “I’ve been picking up anything substantial from these monsters in hopes that there’s something actually useful inside. What did you do?”

“Oh, uh… I’m not all that great at communication so I may have made work very stressful lately, by not telling her when I am available and that I picked up shifts during times she didn’t much appreciate. I also got into a fight with Riera the other day.”

“It’s Reira, not Ree-ra, you dunce. No wonder you are failing miserably, you just don’t get it. You don’t treat them all like people, they’re just things that take your woman's body sometimes, you just think they’re in the way.”

“Hey, that’s not true! I care for them and not just because my Sybil is in there.”

"Wow." Azure stared at his brother for a few moments. “So you need my help, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying. I was wrong, I don’t know how to do this after all. I thought I was the more responsible one but in the end I was just selfish… I don’t know what to do to fix this and it’s effecting the others as well. Can you try and fix my mistakes? Please?”

Azure nodded slowly, placed his swords into holsters on his thighs, and held out one hand.

Bastion sighed. “Thank you, Azure. I didn’t know who to turn to.”

Azure nodded as Bastion took his hand. “I understand… but Jhet, you’ll be handling my duties.”

“What's that supposed-“

With a good tug, Azure pulled Bastion forth and then sidestepped him, causing Bastion to stumble onto the lift. Azure followed the motion by standing on the button to activate it and when the light faded Bastion was gone. “It means someone needs to guard the bulwark and you’re the only one nearby. I’ll rotate the duties through the most tactful fighters so… sorry you were first, because your strategy sucks.” He looked at the lift for a while, gazed upwards, and then turned his body toward the stairs. He began walking up them but stopped as he saw someone halfway up. “Oh. Hey there, it’s been a while. Hibernation over? You aren’t looking too well.”

Audio smiled, his cracked skin flaking a bit as his face contorted into a way it wasn’t used to being. “It was a hard season… Without you around it gets weird here.” Audio looked to the walls, where the wiring between lights was changing. Red lines had faded to blue, advancing slowly through the city from this chamber. The lighting had faded from a fierce orange to a solemn blue, and the stormy winds outside calmed, if only by a little.

Azure reached out and ruffled Audio's hair. It felt synthetic to his touch, a reminder to him that Audio was made of a more fragile thing than he. “I think I’ll hang out for a while and straighten things out. It looks a little gloomy here. Can we get some music?”

Audio’s smile extended into his tired eyes, where a tear formed. “He broke the headphones and lost the replacements.”

Azure failed to stifle a sad laugh. "Yeah... Of course he did."

[tales-of-abysia]

Goodbye Tumblr?

Considering if I'll be remaining on Tumblr going forward or if I'll be moving somewhere else. Not a fan of the change in policies as I don't see them as being more inclusive, as putting tags and marking blogs at 18+ with a safe setting could easily block that kind of content for those of us online who don't want to see Adult content. It might be overused at first, or thr opposite, but their is a way forward without driving out those who wish to share themselves more intimately.

Tumblr is a place where we blog about life and our interests, and as we all have a sexual side and are mostly adults, I find the blocking of this content on such a free and expressive site to be a negative turn I'm really not in favor of supporting, despite not posting any of the content myself.

I find it sad, and while it may make them feel more professional they will be losing a percentage of their patrons due to this change, and I may be one.

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - Sorrowful Farewell

(This entry is late to post because life has been crazy and relates to a week or two back now... It follows The Accord pretty directly.)

Lexi's wide white eyes curiously examined a hardened black ooze that ran much like tar, or pitch. As it dried to the undercroft pipes bits of it crystalized into odd shapes. She picked up a small piece of wood and scraped it. The crystal growths had not yet set into place, and wiggled as she pressed against it. The surface was similar to metal, making a rustic scree as she dragged the point along. “Weird.” As she poked the fluid, it dripped down onto the ground, where it sucked the color out of the stones. She curiously placed the wood down and extended a finger out. As she reached forward, a clawed black mass grabbed onto her hand, causing her fright.

Jaxx grumbled from her shadow. “Don’t touch that.” His hand released, and the darkness on the ground thickened as red eyes opened up. “It sucks the life out of the stones. I don’t want to imagine how it would affect you.”

The pipes above them shook, and a second drop landed, rolled down and fused with the first. As they met, they reacted violently by extending in tumultuous fervor in all directions before condensing and hardening. Lexi frowned. “But it’s pretty and I want some. Can I put it in a jar? I have a jar.” She reached into a small satchel on her hip and pulled out the glass jar. It had a metal cap screwed on.

“Don’t seem too smart. Maybe leave it alone?”

Lexi smiled at her shadow and shook her head. “Silly, you said it could be dangerous! We can’t leave it here.”

Lexi leaned down and grabbed the small piece of wood, cracking bits off to make a spoon shape. Jaxx watched very carefully at her movements, his eyes narrowing as she readied the jar.

RUMBLE. The entire area above them shook like something heavy had fallen. Jaxx reflexively lurched onto the wall, his form extending several sharp spikes toward Lexi as the pipes shook overhead. A shower of the black drops fell, sizzling as they hit the stones. The jar dropped, bounced off of Lexi's flats and rolled onto the ground between them. Lexi had been pinned to the wall by the looser regions of her clothing, beneath a small wooden awning. There was a crack in the ceiling and part of Jaxx's body rose beneath the Jar, the cap slipping off as a large thud of the fluid landed inside. It spasmed like the others before shrinking and hardening. “Where is this shit coming from?”

Jaxx extended from the shadow to reach his head around the corner, his amorphous form very stretched out at this point. An odd look for him, to be sure.

That’s when it happened. Another loud crash above them, followed by a brief silence. Then a louder bang, and another, and another, each louder, closer, and stronger than the last. This floor was one of the bottom ones, with the thickest base. As the ceiling separated in the hallway around the corner, a wave of gaseous darkness flooded down, followed by a slamming sound of something crashing to the ground. The gas sucked in and with a scream it ignited. Jaxx leapt from his wall to the opposite, forming a soft shell around Lexi that held her to the wall. Behind him, the entire hallway was enveloped in fierce golden flames that scorched every surface nearby black. The force pressed his form to Lexi like a tight hug, released a moment later.

Jaxx then slid down, forming a puddle on the ground. His dark form blended to the floor, which had been stained as dark as night. Thudding footsteps behind her caught her attention and she turned to see a form in heavy black armor. He gazed down at her with red eyes, knelt down and placed the cap on her jar, and his hand spun on his wrist to seal it tight. He then squeezed the metal cap to crimp the edges before stepping over Jaxx and then rounding the corner. Lexi tried to gather Jaxx up, but he oozed through her fingers. He appeared entirely debilitated.

Duske, the dark armored form, approached the cause of the explosion. Through the dust a pair of firece golden eyes burned. “You… go away!” The ground cracked, bent forward, sharp sheets of metal extending like swords toward Duske. He turned, but several still impaled him in the side of the chest. He staggered, grunted, and then with a sigh he evaporated, the black gas hardening again into his shape once it floated beyond the wall of swords.

The figure with golden eyes was Azure. His hair was wild, small stones floating around him in the daylight he had brought crashing down with him. He was hunched, breathing heavily, his teeth bared. He placed his hand on the wall and whipped it forward to Duske, the wall warping and extending into large columns designed to crush him. Duske held strong, putting his shoulder forth and stopping the extending mass.

Azure screamed “Leave me alone!”

“You are… hurting people.” Duske’s voice sounded strained, mechanical, like words were difficult for him. “This panic, it breaks our accord.” He dodged to the left as the pillar from the right crunched by him, taking fragments of the armor shoulder with it. Duske reached onto his hip and grabbed a metal ring, rose it up, and then forced it down over Azure's head. He quickly screamed again and reached to his neck as the new cuff extended, covering his neck and then his shoulders. The plates of armor cascaded down Azure’s chest and he roared like a beast.

Duske rose a foot and forced it forward, kicking Azure through a window and then the opposite wall. Following through, the two were now in a round room at the base of the city. A glowing ring in the center of this began to glow, and Techtonica rose from it after a second.

Azure grabbed the armor as it slid down his arms and tore it off, metal plates dinging off of the ground and then falling away, only to reform on his arms again. As he took a deep breath, the air around Azure grew dark and heavy. The armor grew down to his knees and he fell to them, partially immobile. This next scream caused the growths on his arms and legs to shatter, a wave of force flying off of him and shattering the windows, the doors, and damaging the walls of every building in the square. The entire city groaned around them.

Azure watched Duske advance through the hole in the wall and then drew two swords, running forward toward Duske at full speed. Duske reached out a hand and ignored the first stab into his mechanical chest, instead firmly grasping Azure’s neck. He dropped the swords and struggled, but the armor was regrowing already and sealing him in. Techtonica appeared behind him and grabbed Azure in a chokehold. The three of them all moved together toward the glowing ring.

Techtonica groaned as he struggled against Azure. “Good job Duske. Now, the bottom button?”

Duske looked to the floor, where several buttons were carved into the floor. A tower, a globe, and then a channel under that went to an island, and beneath that a dark void. Duske stepped on the button for the void, the ring lit up beneath Tech and Azure, and then they were both gone.

Lexi climbed through the wall then, a jar tucked into her satchel and a black mass with red eyes discombobulated in her arms. “What just happened?”

Duske stared at the lift for a moment before turning toward Lexi. “He had a panic attack. I just sent Azure to the Chronos Bin, with Techtonica.”

Several days later, a meeting was called to gather everyone. Damien delivered the bad news to everyone else, but didn’t know how to tell the world. This took a while to put into words.

I’m sorry..

[tales-of-abysia]

Mind of a Madman - The Accord

“It wasn’t the greatest moment.” Techtonica nodded in agreement. “Engine could have died if that book of his had gotten ruined.”

“Which is why I wanted to bring this to you.” Azure let out a sigh as he spoke to Duske. This was yours once, and I need you to monitor me to make sure I don’t have another lash out like that one. I don’t want to be destructive, I want to be creative. Lately life has just felt overwhelming, suffocating, yet also so very dull. It’s maddening, to be honest. If it drives me mad again, I want you there.”

Duske has changed recently, his frail metallic frame dipped in fluid that formed a hard armor shell on his outside. Two red mechanical eyes looked out through the maw-like hole that made his visor. The look there was equal parts devoid of emotion and filled with quizzical nature. He took the metallic cuff from Azure's hand and admired it, the many layers of its form condensed into this one fraction that used to be his own body. Duske rotated it and examined the inside as well. “You wish to strike an accord with me? I am loneliness personified, a dejection. I don’t see the logic in what makes me the one to have this duty.” Duske let his eyes wander, the lenses losing focus as he was lost in thought. “I was decommissioned. Ruined. Left apart from the rest; it was due to my own flaws of character and inability of growth. I’m here now out of a lack of options, my time limited by the brevity of this disaster, so why give me such a vital task?”

Techtonica shared the curiosity, but waited for Azure to speak. “You understand some of the darkest parts of my heart. You came from my own loneliness, my own rejection. You understand these things. Secondly, you are coated in a resin made from a fluid that I bleed when it gets hard for me. It's density make you resistant to my outbursts, and help your mobility as well. Finally, the armor once belonged to you, so it feels right for you to have a final say.”

“I decline.”

“Uh. What?” Azure turned to Tech, lost for words. Tech chuckled.

“I refuse the duty. It should be given to Damien or Zane because of their logic and judgement.” Duske held the cuff back out.

Techtonica stepped forward with a nod to grab the cuff, but Azure held out a hand and stopped him. “Damien will not work with it anymore now that he knows its purpose. Zane is too loyal and would refuse to commit to the duty even if he was forced to promise. I’m not going to wait until I kill someone to do this. I am making the arrangements for a reason, which gives you a reason. You lack the same bonds and reservations of the others. It has to be you.”

“Skeith?”

“Too lazy, probably would lose it.”

“What about Tech?” Duske turned to him, still standing mid-step with Azure's hand on his chest. The large man stood out even before Duske in his heavy armor.

“Tech doesn’t even stay in the city, he’s too distant to be doing this. I’ll give you a summon for him but he isn’t known for dropping his hobbies to help.”

Techtonica smiled. “Duske, I will be there at a moment's need if this issue ever arises.”

Duske looked down at the cuff once more. “What would I do?”

“Hold on to it, keep the cuff with you. If I have a reaction, your armor has the ability to shift form so you could get to me quickly. After that I need you to place the cuff on me and get me to the nearest lift. Tech can help with that part, for sure.”

Duske nodded, holding the cuff up a bit.

“Oh! One last warning, don’t put it on. It may activate and you don’t want that.”

Duske lowered the cuff, thinking for a moment before grabbing part of the armor on his hip and pulling it. It went from metal-hard to thick and tacky, like tar. He hooked the cuff onto it and then held out his left hand. “You have convinced me. We have an accord. Should the worst come to pass, I shall contain and segregate you somewhere you are incapable of doing damage.”

Azure half-smiled, a brightness fading from his golden eyes, the azure ring around them growing a little thicker. “Yeah, thanks man…” He shook Duske's hand.