Twin Kingdoms

In the land of Isiya, there lay two rival kingdoms which would engage in war over the smallest thing. They were the kingdom of Sarno and Agraia. A farmer would plow outside of one kingdoms boundaries and the other kingdom would accuse them of invasion. The continual wars killed many innocents and orphaned many children. One such child was taken in by the king of Sarno. The child's name was Vorian Delnan.

18 years after Vorian's adoption, he had grown up and was a cleric for the army. Vor wished only to stop pain and fighting so he practiced healing magic. He also knew a vast array of binding spells which can halt the target's magic and or movement. Through these magics, Vorian hoped to stop as much pain as he could. Unfortunately, Vorian had an extremely rare talent, an ability that one in trillions have. It gave him the ability to cast some of the most destructive magics in existence. The only people who knew of Vorian's ability were the king of Sarno and Vorian himself.

Despite the fact that this ability could have stopped the war between the two kingdoms, such destruction was horrendous in his eyes. And so, Vorian never offered the king to use his talent, and his adoptive father never asked...

But, things were amiss in the kingdom, and one day, Vorian Delnan was given a summons to appear in front of the king...

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

Inside the dimly lit room, a figure lay prone. At the sound of the noise he started to move.

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

Vorian Delnan opened his eyes slowly and groggily cried out, "Come in!"

In response, he got a, "The door's locked!"

Exhausted, Vor got up completely dressed and walked toward the door. He was up late last night by the king's orders. He was told to practice his magic which was extremely odd. He had never been ordered to do anything like that before.

Vorian opened the door and an aggravated page stood before him. "You aren't supposed to lock your door!" she sneered.

"I was supposed to be given 8 hours undisturbed rest," he replied. "It's only been 4."

"Well that doesn't mean you can lock your door!"

"Are you here to chastise me or give me the message you're holding?"

Vorian extended his hand and the page slapped the message into his hand.

"Honestly, I follow all the rules and I'm still a page!" she mutteed angrily as she walked away.

A little bit annoyed, Vor walked back into his room and read the message:

"Vorian Delnan, High Cleric of the Royal Army is to present himself before his majesty, the King of Sarno, at 3:00 this day. Failure to comply will lead to..."

Vor's pulse quickened. He had never been formally summoned by his adoptive father. Vor checked the time on a steam clock he had gotten in the city of Valence. 2:00. Vor stood up and began to make himself presentable.

At 2:55, Vorian stood outside the Audianece Chamber. When the chamberlain called his name, he stepped through the archway and approached the king.

"I have arrived as you wished," he said as he knelt.

"I have summoned you here, today, to give you a mission... You are to go to our enemy kingdom of Agraia and purify it."

Vorian looked up in fright, "But father! I-"

"You are to address his majesty properly and only when allowed," the chamberlain roared. The guards tightened their grips on their weapons.

"Vorian Delnan! You are to follow orders or be executed! You will be sent to Agraia with an escort of 10 soldiers. They are to make sure you follow orders. When you have fulfilled your obligations, you are to return. Do I make myslef clear?"

"Y-yes, my lord," Vorian stuttered. He stood up, turned around, and was led out by his escort. As they left the castle the following day, Vorian was left with a feeling of dread for what was to come...

It had been 3 days since he left the castle and he and his escort had just passed the outskirts of Agraia. Vorian saw no way out of his predicament. He was in no way skilled enough to stop ten guards at once, or to protect himself enough to escape succesfully. Even though the guards would be purified along with the rest of the Agraians, they didn't seem to care, almost as if they were being enchanted.

As they passed through the city, Vorian became more and more nervous, eventually to the point of nearly passing out from dehydration because he was sweat so much.

At nightfall, they approached the wall of the castle and the guards told him to begin.

Vorian's heart seemed ready to burst out of his chest, and run away screaming. Vor's mind raced trying to think of an alternative. His arms felt numb at his sides. His legs felt like rubber. Then, he knew what to do. Vor took a deep breath and began to mutter the beginnings of a spell. This spell would clear the enchantment Vor suspected the guards were under. Once the enchantment was clear, the guards wouldn't want to die and they would let him go... or so he thought...

Vorian finished his spell. There was a flash of light. As the light cleared, a guard called out. "Hey! That wasn't what you're supposed to do!"

Vor looked around in fright. Apparently the guards weren't enchanted. In a last ditch effort, Vor threw a binding spell at the guard who just spoke. He ran straight for the break in formation and-

Vorian woke up with his head throbbing. It was still night. Or was it the next day? He felt the back of his head. It was bleeding pretty badly. He quickly healed the wound and pushed himself up onto his knees, as a boot came flying into his gut.

Vor doubled over and gasped for air. Two of the guards forced him onto his hands and knees asa third put a sword to the back of his neck.

"Either you follow orders, or we do."

Tears flowed freely from Vorian's eyes. He couldn't bring himself to kill everyone in the kingdom of Agraia, but if he didn't there would be no way to help the man who helped him when he needed it. Vorian knew that there was something wrong with king.

So, as the guard brought his sword into the air, Vor cried out.

The King of Sarno looked out into the darkness of night and smiled as a blinding white light flashed in the distance.

"Very good Vorian. Very good." The King walked back to his bedchambers with an inhuman smile spread across his face.

The blast disintegrated the entire inner city and castle. However, the shockwave traveled even further and killed nearly everyone in the outer city. Ironically, only the unprotected peasants emerged relatively unscathed, having only half of their people killed. Out of the over 500,000 citizens of the kingdom of Agraia, less than 30% survived.

Despite all of the destruction, one thing still moved at the blast's focus. Vorian Delnan lay face down on the floor. Tears poured from his eyes and his sobs could be heard echoing in the desolate area. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, and ran. He ran throughout the night until the morning. He found the first city he could find and ran straight past it. He ran until he reached a forest, far from the nearest city. There he lay collapsed in a pile of dried leaves and twigs. He did not know how he was able to run for so long even after the spell he cast had exhausted him.

Vorian Delnan passed out and remained still for the next 3 days.

Meanwhile, half of the army of Sarno was scouring the land in an attempt to find the person who ended the endless fighting, through painful destruction.

OOC: ShinyPuffy. No other person in the history of Sarno has had the "Purification" ability and the king only used "purify" to let Vorian know what he meant so if you could edit that, that would be great. Thank you. Sorry to be an RP nazi.

(The year is 1818 IY (Isiyan Years), approximately 300 IY after the events of The Cave of Neverending Void and Sanctuary of the Eternal Spirit. The City of Valence still stands and the Vodalka are rumored to still exist but their whereabouts are unknown)


She was visibly an odd girl, but nobody acknowledged her existence. She stood at the end of the Chamber, shadows draped over her face, obscuring her features. Her ashen black hair hung matted in front of her face, yet the piercing white eyes behind them seemed to pierce right through. It was evident, however, that she was younger than the man that had been summoned into the enormous corridor. Unbeknownst to her, his name was Vorian, and that he would pique her “interest” in ways nobody would ever desire in due time. The blood-red cloak concealed her well; not even the king seemed to realize she was there. Slowly, but surely, she melted into the shadows, into the darkest corner with the best view.

The king’s voice, as usual in the Chamber, was booming and commanding. She had heard him speak many times before. Oh, she loved the trials that ended violently…

“I have summoned you here, today, to give you a mission... You are to go to our enemy kingdom of Agraia and purify it.”

Purify? she thought. She hadn't heard that term in her lifetime. However, she could assume that it was something along the lines of "total genocide." She looked back again at the scrawny young man the king was addressing. He didn’t seem anything like the kind of person capable of an ethnic cleansing. He was a cleric… but she’d seen him a couple of times before. Not just any cleric, the “King’s High Cleric”, the king’s own adopted son. Years ago she’d be aghast at the events unraveling before her, but now, she was only slightly amused. She’d seen these events so many times before. Every time the king called upon a man to do some atrocious act upon the other kingdoms, he’d always decline, and he would be executed… and that was her duty. And she adored it. She smiled. The events of the Chamber always proved to be interesting once she, Else, was done with them.

EDIT:

OOC: My apologies DarkLink!

Unfortunately for Else, the "debacle" in the Chamber ended rather uneventfully. The man was simply chastised for speaking out against the king, roughed up by the royal guards a bit, and sent to his room like a bad boy. She frowned, a bitter taste forming in her mouth. She'd gone for weeks without killing something big, and she was getting tired of ripping apart the endless numbers of rats and vermin that scurried around the corridors. The sight of watching them writhe around in their death throes amused her, but she began to experience an all-too-familiar itch. Upon hearing about the 3-day period between now and the inevitable "purification", Else quickly made her way out of the Chamber. She certainly didn't want to be caught in the huge crowds that inevitably formed after any major Chamber session. Else kept going down the hallway until she reached her private quarters. The king wouldn't be needing her for anything else today, so now she had the rest of the day all to herself.

It... annoyed her to no end. Else was at a total lack of things to do, and that itch wasn't helping anything. She rolled around on her fluffy brown mattress. Despite being the king's highest sorceress, her room was rather spartan. The walls were laden with a dull blue stone that generally gave the room a somewhat sinister appeal. The only amenities that seemed to be in the room were the poofy brown mattress, a simple brown drawer, and a self-made gap in the wall so she could get some fresh air.

Meanwhile, her ears caught the sound of a mouse scurrying across the floor. What an unlucky thing. She turned around until she could see the furry black creature. The thing was running around aimlessly, having lost itself in the sprawling castle. She flicked her fingers.

The mouse's eyes promptly bulged out of their sockets, as if the creature was being strangled by an unseen force. Its body was contorted in a frighteningly unnatural position for a few moments before the entire thing was suddenly, silently torn apart, its entrails and gore forming a small puddle where it once existed. Else stared at the little pile of guts for a while, then, with a gentle motion of her hand, the mess picked itself up, levitated across the room, and dumped itself through the gaping hole in the wall. Else sighed as she threw herself back onto the bed. It wasn't fun anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 DAY LATER...

Else couldn't take it. Boredom had sunk to the very depths of her mind and was gnawing away at it. She'd gotten tired of cleaning the mess she made from the mice and let the blood sit there, some of the remains having gone brown from age. Any longer and she'd be reduced to tearing the castle apart, brick by brick and the king wouldn't like that. She wasn't supposed to do anything the king didn't like. Ever.

There was a small girl, her bloodied, swollen hands tightly grasping cold, iron bars. The room was cold and dark. She could hear footsteps, and although she couldn't see them in the darkness, she already knew all too well who they were. This was her punishment.

"No, no, please don't..." she whimpered, tears streaming from her face. How weak she was. She should have learned that weakness would only invoke more pain.

"Oh no, Else, that won't do..." they said in unison, the magic already beginning to glow from their fingertips... She closed her eyes, and screamed.

She was only 10 years old.

Else involuntarily winced from the memory. Quickly, she pushed it out of her head. As that thought left, the young man sentenced to "purify" Agraia crossed her mind. Wasn't he leaving today? She thought. As if summoned by the devil himself, there were three obnoxious slams on her door. Else wasted no time making her way across the room, avoiding the spots of blood, and tearing open the door to greet the idiot that had disturbed her.

"What do you need," she snapped. A lone knight stood outside her door, fully armored. He shoved a scroll in her face.

"King's orders, Sorceress Else," She took the scroll and promptly slammed the door in his face.

"I-um, better get going." She could hear his armor clank as he saluted to the door, and then left.

Else opened the royal scroll, which was ostentatiously embroidered with gold lining, and looked at its contents.

"ADDRESSED TO THE SORCERESS ELSE

Else is to promptly accompany the King's High Cleric Vorian Delnan's march to the accompanying kingdom of Agraia. Else is not to reveal herself to any participants of the march. Failure to comply will result in conviction of treason and/or execution.

Else sighed, but at least it was something to do. She took the candle resting upon her cabinet and lit the document ablaze as was required by all confidential scrolls. After ensuring that all that remained was a pile of ash, she exited the room, not even bothering to close the door. Before long, she'd made her way out of the castle. As she stepped outside the enormous, iron-wrought doors, the rays of the sun blasted her eyes with brightness. Else once loved the sun... but now it was an annoyance. She slipped the hood of her cloak over her head, and quietly made her way over to the troops that had lined themselves up at the front of the castle. At the center of them was the young man she'd seen in the Chamber earlier, Vorian. There were only ten guards, an unusual amount considering that the man was intended to cleanse an entire kingdom... there was definitely something amiss here. She didn't have much time to ponder the situation, as one of the guards began barking orders, followed by a distinctly synchronized march. Else followed in suite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 DAYS LATER...

Where the kingdom of Agaria once stood was now a pile of rubble. Else stood resolutely at the outskirts of the kingdom, the images of the annihilation still fresh in her head. The death and destruction didn't bother her much. Rather, it was the reason why the king sent her to accompany the troops... had she traveled into the kingdom's walls, she would most certainly have died. Either it was the king's utter disregard for her life, carelessness, or something much deeper. The idea that someone would betray her so blatantly made her feel... very angry. The sight of a nearby forest caught her eye, and she found herself the perfect stress reliever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was breaking dawn when she had finished leveling every tree in sight. Splintered tree trunks and stumps torn from the ground lay scattered around the land like broken matchsticks. Relieved, Else plunked herself down onto the floor. It certainly was an odd sight, a strange little girl surrounded by hundreds of shattered, broken trees. But was even more odd was that she happened to be sitting on someone.

Vorian dreamed of destruction. He could here homes crushed and shattered. Then, Vorian awoke to see the secluded forest he had fallen asleep in as nothing but shattered trunks. Even more startling was the sight of Else Rai, the king's executioner. Even more startling than that, was the fact that she was sitting on him.

"if you're here to kill me, do it. I deserve it for what I've done," he cried out, still exhausted. "The people of this kingdom didn't have to all die."

"However, as you yourself have probably noticed, there is something wrong with the king. I am going to help him. So even though I deserve to die, at least wait to kill me until after I save the king."

As Vorian finished his sentence, he tried to stand up and push the small girl off of himself, but he could not even do that, for he was still too weak.

Vorian passed out again.

OOC: We should give time for Kiki to introduce her character.

ooc: yeah, about that... lol, starting this sunday i'll be away for 3 weeks and i may/may not be able to bring my dear laptop. even then, i may not have connection D: i'll just see what i can do...

cristofer polis hummed a happy tune as he walked through the forest, greatful for the shade. up ahead, there was a clearing, probably for farmland or something along those lines. he couldn't help but notice that the tree stumps were still in the ground. strange way to start a farm, he thought to himself, back home, they'd take the tree and the stump all out in one move.

he walked into the clearing and found a young girl sitting on top of a man about his own age. cris blinked, suprised and slightly amused. "hello, there! how are you on this fine morning?" he asked brightly.

Even though she was a bit more than tired, Else wasn't surprised when she found out the lump she was sitting on turned out not to be a lump at all. It happened to be a person. The lump-person under her butt started muttering something.

"Lumps don't talk. Who are you?" Else demanded, crossing her arms and taking a look at the lump. She wasn't prepared for its face, though. She had been sitting on the King's High Cleric. How the hell did he get here? She wiped the brief look of bewilderment from her features. Nobody was supposed to maltreat the guy, unless they wanted to get a severe punishment. Else wasn't in particular desire to get punished at the moment, but then again, nobody could really blame her. Something else must have happened to the guy. Her body ached from her forest-leveling endeavor and she wasn't in the mood to really exert herself to find out who, or what, did this to him. Sitting on him wasn't all too bad... she could just say that she had found him and was now "guarding him." Else giggled a little to herself.

Immediately the lump-person, whom Else now regarded as Vorian, began to plea for his life. Now, when people start begging her not to kill them... she didn't like that.

"Oh, shut up," She snapped. Somewhere, her magic snapped a tree in two. "If I wanted your whining I'd ask for it." While she felt his feeble attempts to push her off, she held firm and continued to sit. Vorian continued to mumble. While most of it was incomprehensible to her ears, Else bothered to listen to the more important parts.

"There is something wrong with the king..." Those words immediately caught her attention, for that was exactly what she was thinking. She knew Vorian had been exceptionally close to the king, being his adopted son after all. He might know something she didn't. He actually conversed with the king, while all Else did was follow orders given to her through imperial scrolls. He could prove useful, Else thought.

That thought was immediately shattered when Vorian went motionless again, apparently exhausted. Else cursed in disgust, stomping to her feet. He was weak, something that would prove to be a problem in the future. Suddenly, she heard another voice behind her. It was unfamiliar.

"How are you on this fine morning?" Else whipped herself around to find herself looking at a grown man, much older than her. He was undeniably handsome, disgustingly cheerful, but there was something else odd about him. Something... different. It made her feel uneasy in a way she could never explain.

"None of your business, young man. Go about your errands," Else hissed. She turned herself around and sat back down on Vorian with a thud. If she wasn't in the mood to help the talking lump, she definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with other people.

Else watched the man's movement's cautiously. While his demeanor and behavior annoyed her to no end, something inside of her sensed that there was nothing normal about this man. Emanating from the man was not an aura that belonged to a regular human, but instead, she failed to recognize it completely. There was definitely something more than simple magic at work behind this. Putting her worries aside for the moment, Else decided to put up with the man for a little longer.

"You call me 'young man' although you look even younger yourself," the strange man joked, smiling. This was the kind of behavior that genuinely annoyed her. That happy tone, that relish of life... Her eyes filled with rage for a moment, her hands clenched and her muscles flexed, yet something inside of her held her back. She couldn't explain it, yet in a matter of moments, the anger drained somewhat from her features. But barely.

"...and the only errand i have to run at the moment is to enjoy my walk, which i have."

"Your aberrancy is irksome. Please leave us alone." Else snarled, glaring at him as she continued to sit on the lump named Vorian. That was the closest thing the man would get to a conversation at this point. Venom seemed to pour from Else's eyes, as she glared into the man. Yet her hostility remained unreceived. All of her negativity seemed to bounce off the man as he presented a simple greeting in the form of a introduction and a handshake.

"My name is Cristofer Polis, but you may call me Cris if you wish," the man, now named Cris, smirked, as he reached out a hand to her. Else abhorred physical contact. Especially handshakes. By this time, Else didn't want any more to do with this man.

Her conscience quickly deemed him fit to be "removed."

"Young man, I told you to leave." Else roared, her hair like a blazing fire upon her head. Her eyes were livid with hatred as her hands began to glow with her magic. Somewhere behind her, an invisible force seemed to grasp the ruined husk of a fallen tree, and after a moment, the tree seemingly hurled itself at the man named Cris. Many more seemed to rise into the air before they followed in suit.

"Now pay the price, with your life." Else's features widened into a sickening grin.

After Vorian had passed out, he came to almost immediately when Else sat down on him againg, hard. He listened to the whole conversation but was too tired to bother moving let alone speaking.

The conversation seemed to go downhill after, well, after it started.

But when else flung a large group of trees at the man named Cristopher Polis.

With a surge of strength, Vorian shoved himself off the floor and cast a binding spell on Else, halting her magic before casting a protection spell on the targeted man.

After the flurry of trees impacted yet did no harm to Cris due to the protection spell, Vorian stood in front of Else. His voice hoarse, Vorian called out, "Don't you think enough people have died today? This man caused no harm to anyone."

Vorian leaned backward against a splintered tree trunk before sitting down. He let out a sigh of sadness over the death he caused and fought to stay conscious, because he knew he would see the faces of all the people he slaughtered in his dreams.

"Don't you think enough people have died today? This man caused no harm to anyone," the human lump squeaked. Else was still seething from the man's previous aggravations and was in no desire to halt her attack, both verbal and physical, by form of flying trees. She was utterly raging: there would be little stopping her now, and reasoning was out of the question. Suddenly, she felt her arms tighten and bind against her will, and Else found herself wrenched into an upright position. Her features narrowed in fury, her eyes darting for the source. It wasn't long before she realized the caster of the spell was the human lump behind her, that Vorian. An inhuman hiss escaped from her lips.

Such a weak, foolish man, trying to restrain me like this? The spiteful voice echoed within her head. That simply wouldn't do... and they would soon find out that there would be no stopping Else in this state of rage.

"Ignorant fools," she spat, her muscles clenching as the air crackled and hissed around Else, the work of the binding spell. Her invisible extremities began to rip their way out of the bindings that restrained their controller.

In a matter of seconds, an explosion of force and air rocked the desolate plain as Else tore herself from the spell in a single, brutal movement. Else turned around, face contorted in fury, and planted a foot on Vorian's motionless body.

"Don't give me a reason to kill you," Else roared, unceremoniously rolling him aside with her foot like a discarded doll. She turned her attention to the male passerby, the one with the presence that only seemed to irk her.

"As for you, I'm not quite done with you yet..." Else, fueled completely by utter rage at this point, flew into the air, gravity no longer seeming to have any effect on her. And without warning, the invisible force surrounding Else ripped its way towards Cris, eager to tear him apart.

The feeble blast of fire thrown at her exploded harmlessly in the air meters before it made contact with its target. An ugly cackle escaped Else's lips.

"Silly boy, I believed I was going to have to kill a man today." She laughed, horribly, as the man flew across the earthy floor, thrown from the force of impact.

Else was slightly amused. Even animals, with their heightened senses, were unable to detect her "extremities," yet the man was able to dodge her magic, albeit barely. Her preliminary instincts were correct: this was no ordinary person. Still, he was but human, probably just with some special training. Else smiled. The few moments of brutal contact made her feel... alive. It had been a long time before she'd attacked anything else other than defenseless mice, or those silly sack dummies given to her. Her face turned wild with excitement, the adrenaline and rage coursing in full fury throughout her veins.

Else prepared herself to smash the weak barrier the man had thrown up to defend himself. The magic he was casting was so weak, it was almost laughable. But Else was not prepared for what happened next. In a matter of seconds, the man seemed to collapse to the ground, convulsing terribly, and suddenly, in his place, was a massive wolf, snarling, sharp-toothed, and quite angry. But it was no ordinary wolf: this beast was the size of several men, but more importantly, its flesh seemed to be in flames. A hellhound... impressive. Else thought. So the man was a shapeshifter. She'd never seen one in the flesh before. For one of the few times in her life, Else was actually... surprised.

A deafening roar exploded from its gaping maw, sending ripples through what was left of the grass in the forest. Else was hit by the full blast of the roar. An unseen force brought her to her knees, Else put her hands to her ears, wincing from the ear-shattering sound. It was said that the cry of the hellhound would make a grown man deaf...

But, hell, Else wasn't a man. It wouldn't deafen her, but it was still really loud.

Her ears were still ringing from the man- now hound's roar, and she felt utterly weak after the assault. She didn't have much time to react before a looming shadow suddenly appeared before her and she realized the big beast was lunging at her. Time slowed to a crawl. Else could see the sharpest details on the beast's features as it hurled itself towards her: the cackling flames that engulfed it, its burning red eyes, and the look of fiery rage in its face.

With a wave of her arm, Else sent a force that smashed the beast in its abdomen with bone-crushing force and sent it flying to the side. It hurtled across the forest floor at unnatural speeds, smashing through a few trees that hadn't been uprooted.

"A persistent little pup, aren't you...!" Else managed before a sudden rush of fluid filled her mouth. She choked on it for a brief moment, before expelling it from her body. There was a strange -splat- noise as the stuff littered the floor, but it was only when she wiped it from her mouth did she realize it was blood. Her eyes widened in a mixture of what could be called terror and amazement. Suddenly, she felt a strange warmth upon her waist. Else put a hand to it, and it came away, tainted with crimson. When Else looked down, a tattered robe dripping and stained with the red substance greeted her. She suddenly felt very weak.

The beast had managed to land a clean blow on her side. Apparently her lungs were impacted as well. She'd lost a lot of blood in so little time. The whole situation wasn't looking good Black spots started to dot her vision: she felt herself starting to faint. Else gripped her wounded side with her hand in an attempt to stem the flow of her blood.

Else coughed, her mouth still tasting of iron. Her body only now started to scream with pain with every movement. So this is what pain feels like... the thought raced through Else's mind. She'd forgotten the sensation. With a brutal motion of her available arm, she sent a blast of force rippling through the earth, tearing up everything in its wake as it flew towards the beast.

Vorian watched in horror as Cris was thrown around like a rag doll, and was even more frightened to see him morph into a hellhound. The hellhound let out a deafening roar that shocked him. The force was enough to make Vorian’s weakened body to slowly make adrenaline. He could feel his energy slowly but surely return.

Vorian stood up in time to see Cris attack Else, and to see Else launch Cris away with a sickening cracking noise.

“STOP!” he cried out with a surge of energy. His magic surged outward and enveloped both Else and Cris. Both Else and Cris were frozen in place, unable to move or speak, let alone attack each other. The blast of magic Else had hurled at Cris was slowed and dissipated in the air, not reaching its target. Vorian was sure to use one of his strongest spells to ensure that Else or Cris could break free.

“Look over there!” he pointed toward the place where the kingdom of Agraia once stood. “What do you see?! Do you see the castle where a king once ruled? Do you see a town where thousands lived there lives? NO! Because they are all dead! Because I killed them!” Tears were streaming from his eyes. “Because my king ordered it…”

“Thousands of people were just killed by a once benevolent king, and you two are trying to kill each other over nothing! There are bigger things to deal with!”

Vorian reduced the strength of his spell as his strength began to fade. They could both move now but neither could use magic of any kind. “Both of you leave, now. There is no reason for either of you to stay here, OR kill each other.”

Blood continued to issue forth from the gaping wound in her side. Strangely enough, there was no pain. Else clutched her side with both hands. She'd expended a lot of energy to launch that last attack, and now it was starting to take its toll. Overwhelming weakness began to claim her body, as Else collapsed to the floor with one knee, unable to move. Her last attack had been dissipated by the Vorian man's magic, and in her state, there was little she could do. She didn't even have the energy to curse. Pitiful... she thought, her last thoughts as she landed face-first in the earthy ground, her body following in suit with a soft thump.


Her vision was soon engulfed in darkness. The stuff was neverending, formless, and without feel... yet Else was still floating around in it. She looked down: there was nothing to be seen, only darkness. Quickly however, it gave way to a shining light, one that pained Else to even gaze at. The light pierced every crevice of the darkness, devouring it, until Else herself was consumed.

She found herself standing in a seemingly desolate, flowery plain. Endless patches of beautiful, colorful flowers stretched on for as far as the eye could see. And all of them were giant, sprawling tulips the size of herself... why were they tulips? Else thought hard... but nothing came. Pushing such trivial matters aside, she moved forward to take a step. Suddenly, Else realized something was amiss. She looked down. Her body was intact, not swallowed by darkness... but something was terribly wrong. Her hands were tiny... and everything felt awkward. Like she was too small. Then, it hit her. The size of the flowers. She was a child. Utterly confused, Else put her tiny hands to her head, and tried to think. How the hell did I get here... what is going on... were her thoughts, but as hard as she tried to think, her brain was swimming in the clouds. Suddenly, her foot caught on a stray vine, and Else fell to the floor in a thump, surrounded by the colorful bulbs. Else scrambled to her feet. Nothing was making sense, everything was surrounded by color, and she couldn't think...

Then, a figure. A lone, standing man suddenly just appeared, casting a long, dark shadow across the space between Else and himself. Wearing entirely gold, shining armor, the man almost looked like a separate sun, one with arms and legs. She had no idea who this man was, this iron-clad man. Curious, Else gazed closer: he stared back, before turning his attention to the flowers surrounding both of them. He bent down, producing some unseen object from his body. He was doing something to the flowers, those innocent looking tulips. It was only then Else a realization smacked her hard in the face again.

Tulips were her favorite flower. She'd remembered collecting them when she was a child... before... that happened...

Fear began to creep across Else. A fear unlike anything she'd ever experienced. The man, apparently finished with his work, suddenly shot a glance at Else. She was utterly paralyzed. Something about him... was just...

"Come here, child... I have a gift for you." the man cooed, beckoning with a gesture of his hand. In his hand were some tulips, looking very peaceful. Else suddenly found her body moving against her will. Her legs began walking towards him, no matter how much Else silently screamed for herself to stop. Her body simply stopped listening to her commands, even those which willed herself to scream in protest.

"Very good..." the man smiled. Some smiles showed happiness, but Else found only teeth in his. Absolute terror gripped Else, but she was unable to express it. She was like a marionette under the control of a puppet master... unable to resist in the slightest...

The man handed her the tulips, and Else was forced to accept them. As the tulips touched her hands, they suddenly wilted, and were dead. She closed them inside her tiny palms, confused. She looked back at the man, but there was no longer just one man.

Black figures descended upon Else, and she screamed as she was swallowed by the darkness once more.


Else awoke screaming, drenched in a cold sweat. Only a few minutes had passed.

kiki.i wrote:

ooc: i kinda want to post again, but linkzero didn't go yet... would anyone mind if i posted?

OOC: Not really. It wouldn't really matter, anyways.