The docks (and beyond)

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Really? Why do you suppose they followed you all this way, then?"

[I think I am here. he/him]

4 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Really? Why do you suppose they followed you all this way, then?"

“Orders,” Csilen replied. “Duty to Elendel, which I exploited to kill a bunch of people.” He turned to. “If it’s not from then, then what exactly are you going to save me from?”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

She shrugged. "Death. What else?"

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Thought's fingers dribbled across her leg. I don't belong here, she thought. No. I don't belong anywhere. 

[I think I am here. he/him]

15 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

She shrugged. "Death. What else?"

“What if I want to die?” Csilen asked. He brought a hand to where his tears had been prior. “I didn’t blow my head off just so I could be ‘saved’. And how would you save me anyway, whoever you are.”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman looked at him and sighed. "Why did you commit suicide, Csilen?"

[I think I am here. he/him]

56 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

The woman looked at him and sighed. "Why did you commit suicide, Csilen?"

“None of your concern, that’s why,” Csilen replied. “What does it matter to you?”

Edited March 12, 2019 by I think I am here.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman was silent.

"Do you feel like you've failed your men, Csilen?"

[I think I am here. he/him]

24 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

The woman was silent.

"Do you feel like you've failed your men, Csilen?"

Csilen didn’t answer, but as minutes went past, he gave in.

“I feel like I failed everyone,” he said. “Not just them. Is that enough?”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman looked at Csilen. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

[I think I am here. he/him]

On 12/03/2019 at 10:45 PM, xinoehp512 said:

The woman looked at Csilen. "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Csilen looked back at her. “I don’t, but I also didn’t believe in an afterlife where I get to meet a woman with vague statements and the constublary I lead to death. What, you’re going to turn me into a squirrel or something?” @xinoehp512

Edited March 14, 2019 by I think I am here.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman smiled. "No. You'll have to find someone else if you want that, I'm afraid. My offer is of a different kind."

@I think I am here.

--

Tom looked into his cup in silence. Then he went on with the story.

“It was fine, at first. We decided on a compromise between the ideas that had been proposed. Everyone was offered a chance to unlock themselves if they so wished. Nialliv and Aurora set up their societal structure in their own ways among their followers. And I got to study the Key to see if I could figure out what was missing and how we could find that something.

“Things ran smoothly for a long time. None of us unlocked ourselves, thanks to your persuasion. The idea of the society gained popularity among others who had been dragged into this mess; some joined existing Societies, others formed new ones. Eventually, there were six, one for each of us; most survive to this day.

“And I studied the Key.

“From my observations, I became even more certain that a piece was missing. There were parts that looked as if something had been attached to them, then removed. Enough for me to start building a picture of what the missing piece might be. I couldn’t rebuild the piece entirely; there just wasn’t enough information. But I could start building new pieces of technology that copied other parts of the Key.

“That’s where these come from.” He reached to his side and pulled one of the keys off of the shelf. “This one is what I call a Skeleton Key. If you stab this through somebody, then they will be reborn in a similar fashion to the actual Key; however, it only works once. If you want to be reborn again, you have to use this again.

“Inventing these- along with a few other pieces of Key-based technology- is what allowed the Societies to really take off. They no longer depended on the Key for immortality, so they could use it less and less. Eventually, only the most favored used the true Tombstone Key.

“With the Key being used less and less by the Societies, I had more time with it. I came to a greater understanding of what the Key was, and how it worked, but was unable to gain any clues as to where the missing piece might be. For that, I would need the inscriptions.

“On the walls of the vault where the Key had laid were a number of inscriptions in a foreign language that was different from any we had seen before. They were completely indecipherable at first, and remained that way for one hundred years after the recovery of the Key.

“The key to deciphering the language would, strangely enough, be the Key itself. On it were several inscriptions that matched those on the wall, along with writings from other languages. It acted as a Rosetta stone- but, of course, you wouldn’t know what that was, would you?” He looked at AJ. “You should, though. Ah, well, it’s not too important. The important part is that the inscriptions could, at last, be translated.

“They gave a history of the Key, from its creation to the time it was locked inside the vault. It also gave an explanation of what the Key could do. But most importantly, it gave a location for the missing piece.

“After a brief preparation, we set out. The journey was somewhat tricky, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Even the century that had passed hadn’t yet managed to break us apart - mostly thanks to you. But anyway, we reached the spot, passed the last traps, and wound up in a cavern.

“But the cavern was empty. The piece had been removed- or destroyed.

“We searched the cavern, translating the inscriptions written on the walls, hoping they would give us another clue. But as we tried script after script, and found nothing, my hope began to fade. We went over all the writings twice, but there was nothing. No clue, no instructions.

“I was about to give up and try to find a clue somewhere else when I noticed something. There was a code, cleverly hidden right in plain sight among the inscriptions on the wall. What it said stopped me cold.

“The piece we sought after here had been destroyed- but it was still there. Or at least, the pieces were. They had been cleverly woven into the structure in such a way as to form a sort of keyhole. And when that keyhole was activated? It gave access to a Shard itself.

“Vesselless and abandoned on this forsaken planet, it had laid there untouched for millennia.

And its name? The Shard of Thought.”

[I think I am here. he/him]

4 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

The woman smiled. "No. You'll have to find someone else if you want that, I'm afraid. My offer is of a different kind."

Csilen was interested. Silently, he nodded. “And what is that?”

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Thought's fingers had curled around her necklace. Shadows of memories warred in her head and she could hear her breath in her ears.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Shard of Thought

[xinoehp512 he/him]

37 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

Csilen was interested. Silently, he nodded. “And what is that?”

"A chance to redeem yourself. To make up for the crimes you've committed."

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here. he/him]

59 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

"A chance to redeem yourself. To make up for the crimes you've committed."

@I think I am here.

“Impossible,” Csilen said. “How would I do that?”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

"Join me," said the woman. "Help with my cause. Our cause."

[I think I am here. he/him]

9 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

"Join me," said the woman. "Help with my cause. Our cause."

Csilen could see where this was going. Ressurection, in return for loyalty. And loyalty to what, he did not know. “Why haven’t you offered this to others,” he said. “And I’m curious as to what cause you need someone like me to support.”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman smiled. "Why do you think I haven't? I save a lot of people. I would save more, but I need helpers. That's why I ask you."

@I think I am here.

------

Tom was silent for a moment.

“What happened next…” He closed his eyes. “I remember it clearly, even now. There was a brief debate, but we all agreed that you should be the one to take the responsibility. You were the one everyone trusted.” He swallowed. ”You took the Key and inserted it into the center platform, where the piece should have lay. You turned the Key, and the cavern lit up. The pieces detached from the wall and pulled inward.

“The cavern began to shake, but we hardly noticed. We were too focused on the Key, and on you. You’d started to glow, especially your eyes. And the pieces kept getting closer.

“The shaking intensified as the pieces neared the Key. By the time they had gotten within arms reach, we’d started to really notice the shaking of the cavern. It felt like an earthquake was hitting us. A big earthquake, not one of those tiny ones you can’t even feel.

“But despite the magnitude of the tremors, our attention was still focused on the Key, and the rapidly nearing pieces of the Keystone. They got closer… and closer… and closer… and touched.

“For a moment, the tremors stopped. And then the world exploded.”

He paused, opening his eyes. “The strain of your mending of the Key, along with your subsequent ascension, was too much for the planet to handle; it shattered, killing all of us in one swoop. Again.

“It didn’t take as long this time to get back together, fortunately. We had been better prepared this time, leaving the Societies with the means to both find us among the population, bring back our memories, and restore us to adulthood. One year later, we reunited. But we were without you.

“Nobody knew why you hadn’t tried to find us yet. We wondered if something bad had happened to you, and what that something could be. Theories ranged from ‘lost in space’ to ‘unlocked and killed’ to ‘driven insane.” But whatever the cause, we knew that we had to find you.

“We found you. It was easy, far easier than we had assumed. You hadn’t been captured, or killed, or even lost. You were perfectly fine, wandering around from world to world.

“We confronted you. Why hadn’t you come to us? Had something kept you? Did you think that we had somehow been permanently killed by the planets’ destruction?”

“We spoke our piece, and waited. And then… then, you laughed.”

He broke off, shivering.

“You told us how much happier you were, now that you were truly immortal. How much more power you had, now that you held a Shard. How much freer you felt, now that you didn’t have us depending on you.

“Then you spoke down to each of us in turn, telling us the flaws that you saw within us. And we just stood there, stunned, unable to do anything but listen as you betrayed us over and over again.

“When you finished, there was silence. You had been our leader; now you forsook us? We could not believe it. But it was true.” He shuddered. “Your… subsequent decisions made that abundantly clear. I will not speak of them; some things are better left forgotten. But you did not unlock us, and eventually we were all reborn and rescued by the Societies. Again.”

He sighed, and let out a quick, humorless laugh. “And so we enter the current area. Millennia of infighting and hatred. And all because of that betrayal, three thousand years ago.”

He looked down at the table and started scratching at the chipped off spot again.

Privately, he worried he hadn’t been able to tell her enough. There were several significant details he’d left out in order to speed up the retelling. He just had so little time! Handerfles could do many things, but administration was not one of them. Almost all of his time was tied up in making sure that everything was running smoothly. The rest of his time - “free” time - he usually spent on inventing. He’d spent today’s on talking to this duo. He didn’t regret his decision, but he did wish that her memories would have come back during the tale. In his heart, though, he knew that wasn’t likely to occur. The memory of a Shard (especially one specially geared towards thought) would not fit inside the head of a mere human. Especially if they’d already been forgotten.

The memories might be recoverable, if they talked to Calamity. But the price would likely be too high for them.

He’d have to fill the rest in as they went along. Hopefully, the results wouldn’t be too disastrous.

@Shard of Thought @beantheboy12

Edited March 21, 2019 by xinoehp512

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Thought swallowed. "I wonder why..." she whispered. She searched her head for memories and found nothing. Just old dusty shelves. Once stocked, now empty. Barren. "I'm... sorry," she said. "I don't know if you twisted your words at all to try and make me feel a certain way or if you left out certain parts, but for some reason I trust you." She smiled, taking AJ's arm. "Thank you for helping us."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Tom Joebob smiled and nodded. "You are welcome."

He thought about what she had said. Twisted his words? If he could have, perhaps. But that was not a skill he had. He just couldn't talk very well in general.

Tamika could, though. That was part of why he had loved her. Still loved her, in fact. Seeing her with another tore him apart.

She's not herself, he reminded himself. It's not her fault.

--------

The woman stood on the ground.

In front of her was a shadowy figure, holding a key. 

"Come on," she whispered. "Come on..."

With a pop, Sam appeared in the Cognitive realm, clutching his Portal Key. He looked around, confused.

The woman smiled, and decked him. She grabbed the Key from his bewildered grasp.

In an instant, she was standing on the deck of the ship. She pulled out her Skeleton Key and ran it through one of the handerfles.

"Where are you, Joebob?" she called out. "And where have you hidden her?"

 

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Thought immediately turned toward the disturbance. So much for protection, she thought despite herself.

[I think I am here. he/him]

19 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

The woman smiled. "Why do you think I haven't? I save a lot of people. I would save more, but I need helpers. That's why I ask you."

“...Ok?” Csilen said, on edge. “What do you want me to do?”

[xinoehp512 he/him]

The woman shrugged. "There are a few options. You could stay here, in the Cognitive. You would rescue the souls of those who have died, giving them a second chance."

@I think I am here.

Edited March 22, 2019 by xinoehp512

[I think I am here. he/him]

On 22/03/2019 at 4:40 AM, xinoehp512 said:

The woman shrugged. "There are a few options. You could stay here, in the Cognitive. You would rescue the souls of those who have died, giving them a second chance."

@I think I am here.

“And what if I don’t like the option of staying here, wherever this is?” He gestured to the empty expanse around him.