Re: The Battle Royale S2 [Round 3: Endymion]
11-16-2012, 04:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2013, 09:51 PM by Solaris.)
Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.
As Jeremy entranced with his engaging description of what he had done Geoff and Ellena's brother, the embarrassed sister rushed out of the bed to get herself into a more modest state and Wardell predictably opened a book, once again, A Comprehensive History of Endymion.
As he reluctantly leafed through book, looking for more information on this cult, Jeremy started to drivel on and on. Though he made a great effort, Wardell was unable to completely block out the drunkard's ramblings, going through the index, ...Cubicles...Cucumbers...Cults- "And of course I found myself at a bar..."
Wardell winced, but did not deter, rationalizing that the quicker he found some pertinent information, the less he would have to deal with Jeremy. and other underground societies in the moon often were formed by the genetically rejected citize- "And the sweetheart that she is, she let's me in and... well...-" One significant cult... of which various key members were apprehended... worship a winged arbiter ... revolved around he end of the moon- "Oh yea! I also met that angel, well sort of, he just rushed out after I got there but... where was I?"
As Wardell continued his attempts to ignore Jeremy, his more observant scarf tugged at him a little, eliciting a stare that asked, 'what?'
"Well, that last cult there, doesn't it seem a little relevant? Winged arbiter, end of the moon, apprehended members?"
Wardell paused for a bit, and then made an "Ahem."
"So, this cult, does it have any symbols or figures they worship."
For a moment, everyone was a bit silent, as Jeremy and Geoff hadn't gotten used to seeing Wardell's face out of a book, let alone talking.
"Uhm, well, we think that they are waiting for the coming of a winged arbiter or something," the page scratched at his head not quite sure what Wardell was getting at.
Quickly recovering, Geoff placed himself on the right track, "A winged arbiter, someone who would come down and judge others, probably dressed for the part, like..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jeremy interrupted "When did he start talking?"
===
For Acolyte Zaedr and his ministers, things were going relatively smoothly. The trio thought that they had gotten a bit lost on their way down, but they just chalked it up to a mistake on their part. "It has been a while since I've been down here, I probably just misremembered," was said at least three times, each one less sure than the last.
Eventually, Zaedr hit a metaphorical wall along with the very real ones that seemed to be newly strewn across the path to the Heart of Endymion. After tracing their steps back to a fork with four paths, of which, they had just been through one, Zaedr spoke to Minister Dreus and Minister Telon and he reluctantly confirmed their fears, "I am afraid that there is something wrong with the pathway to the Heart of Endymion. I am absolutely sure that we took the right path, but as you can see..."
"So then, what do you propose we do, go back?"
"Nonsense, we can't just go back, right Acolyte Zaedr?"
"Yes, we must keep going, even if the path is uncertain. One of these must lead to the heart, so each of us will go on our own. If you meet a dead end, come back here and wait for the others."
The two ministers nodded, and after selecting their respective paths, split up.
As Acolyte Zaedr continued deeper into Endymion's dark corridors, he felt... odd. It was not just how the path was suddenly unfamiliar, or what he thought could have caused the energy spike that drove this feeling, it was something in the air that just made him feel uncomfortable. He was glad that there was no one around to see him.
Then, there was a drip. The Acolyte paid it no mind, focusing on the task at hand, on his duty to the moon, on anything that wasn't the feeling creeping up inside him. There was another, louder drip, followed by a step? The Acolyte stopped in his tracks, looked behind him and saw nothing. He was alone.
I am alone.
Acolyte Zaedr continued his travels, his heart racing and his breathing becoming erratic. He wasn't being followed, there wasn't anything here, and the heart was probably acting as it was because of something trivial. This is what Zaedr wanted to believe, it is what he wanted to happen. He didn't want to see the odd liquid that was dripping around, he didn't want to think about what shapes seemed to be forming along the corridors, and he certainly did not want to notice a shadow lurking behind him.
"It's just your imagination, there isn't anything wrong, you are alone..."
It wasn't working. He was now almost sprinting but the atmosphere did not change, Acolyte Zaedr still felt as if he was not alone, no matter how much he tried to deny it. Still, he persevered, and finally made it to his destination.
The Heart of Endymion was a breathtaking sight, the subtle red glow illuminating both the room it was housed in and a few pipes that flowed through the moon. After all of the trouble getting there, the view made Zaedr feel safe. He snapped out of his trance and started to get closer, as he did have a job to do.
As he stepped forward, the feelings of sickness and unease left him, tossed aside and forgotten. Unfortunately, he also tossed any semblance of a guard along with it. When the figure that had been pursuing him stabbed him in the back, it was fast, without any struggle. The figure looked like a shadow against the Heart of Endymion, as if they were cloaked in darkness. They turned away from the fresh corpse only to find what seemed to be another shadowy figure. There was silence as the two faced each other, one much more visibly nervous than the other. Finally, one of them made a break for it, leaving the other alone in the heart's chamber.
Drip.
===
"Alright, well that's all fine and dandy for why you two should help them, but what stake do I have in it? I have other plans."
With Jeremy brought up to speed and everyone fully dressed, the tone in the room had changed a bit, with the page getting increasingly annoyed at the man who he thought hadn't said one agreeable thing the entire short time they had known each other. "Well, not anymore you don't. You are going to go with them and help them find out who killed the Grand Inquisitor." He sounded like he would punch Jeremy if anything other than a 'Yes' came out of the drunkards mouth.
Groggily getting his sense back, Jeremy reasoned that his time as a guest was probably over. From the look of embarrassment Ellena was giving him and Geoff and Wardell's uncaring faces, he was not going to easily slip out of this one. Well, not yet at least.
"Alright, alright, I'll help you with this stupid investigation." He paused then added a snide, "I guess."
The page squinted, but continued on, "Good. Now, as I said, the cult is made out of mostly genetic rejects, if you go around where most of them hang out, you might find something. I suppose that angel or whatever it was called angle could also work, but the point is that if you don't do something to find them, we'll know, and I will personally make sure that the three of you are handed right back into Calor's hands."
Geoff nodded, "Don't worry, I would like figure out what happened here just as much as you would. And I'll also make sure that these two don't run off, now, you said something about the er... genetic rejects, can you tell us where we could find them?"
"There are a few places where they could be and..." The page looked at the time, "Shoot, I have to get back, I can't take you to any of their hang outs, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Wait," Ellena spoke, "maybe I could take them to one."
The page's eye twitched a little, but he knew that he did not have the time to argue. "Fine but be careful!"
Without another word, he left, leaving the unlikely, and in some cases, reluctant group alone in a small silence.
"Well then, Ellena? I don't think I've formerly introduced myself, I'm Geoff, this is Wardell. Pleased to meet you."
"The feeling is mutual I suppose."
"Right, we've got some ground to cover, so if you could please lead the way?"
As Jeremy entranced with his engaging description of what he had done Geoff and Ellena's brother, the embarrassed sister rushed out of the bed to get herself into a more modest state and Wardell predictably opened a book, once again, A Comprehensive History of Endymion.
As he reluctantly leafed through book, looking for more information on this cult, Jeremy started to drivel on and on. Though he made a great effort, Wardell was unable to completely block out the drunkard's ramblings, going through the index, ...Cubicles...Cucumbers...Cults- "And of course I found myself at a bar..."
Wardell winced, but did not deter, rationalizing that the quicker he found some pertinent information, the less he would have to deal with Jeremy. and other underground societies in the moon often were formed by the genetically rejected citize- "And the sweetheart that she is, she let's me in and... well...-" One significant cult... of which various key members were apprehended... worship a winged arbiter ... revolved around he end of the moon- "Oh yea! I also met that angel, well sort of, he just rushed out after I got there but... where was I?"
As Wardell continued his attempts to ignore Jeremy, his more observant scarf tugged at him a little, eliciting a stare that asked, 'what?'
"Well, that last cult there, doesn't it seem a little relevant? Winged arbiter, end of the moon, apprehended members?"
Wardell paused for a bit, and then made an "Ahem."
"So, this cult, does it have any symbols or figures they worship."
For a moment, everyone was a bit silent, as Jeremy and Geoff hadn't gotten used to seeing Wardell's face out of a book, let alone talking.
"Uhm, well, we think that they are waiting for the coming of a winged arbiter or something," the page scratched at his head not quite sure what Wardell was getting at.
Quickly recovering, Geoff placed himself on the right track, "A winged arbiter, someone who would come down and judge others, probably dressed for the part, like..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jeremy interrupted "When did he start talking?"
===
For Acolyte Zaedr and his ministers, things were going relatively smoothly. The trio thought that they had gotten a bit lost on their way down, but they just chalked it up to a mistake on their part. "It has been a while since I've been down here, I probably just misremembered," was said at least three times, each one less sure than the last.
Eventually, Zaedr hit a metaphorical wall along with the very real ones that seemed to be newly strewn across the path to the Heart of Endymion. After tracing their steps back to a fork with four paths, of which, they had just been through one, Zaedr spoke to Minister Dreus and Minister Telon and he reluctantly confirmed their fears, "I am afraid that there is something wrong with the pathway to the Heart of Endymion. I am absolutely sure that we took the right path, but as you can see..."
"So then, what do you propose we do, go back?"
"Nonsense, we can't just go back, right Acolyte Zaedr?"
"Yes, we must keep going, even if the path is uncertain. One of these must lead to the heart, so each of us will go on our own. If you meet a dead end, come back here and wait for the others."
The two ministers nodded, and after selecting their respective paths, split up.
As Acolyte Zaedr continued deeper into Endymion's dark corridors, he felt... odd. It was not just how the path was suddenly unfamiliar, or what he thought could have caused the energy spike that drove this feeling, it was something in the air that just made him feel uncomfortable. He was glad that there was no one around to see him.
Then, there was a drip. The Acolyte paid it no mind, focusing on the task at hand, on his duty to the moon, on anything that wasn't the feeling creeping up inside him. There was another, louder drip, followed by a step? The Acolyte stopped in his tracks, looked behind him and saw nothing. He was alone.
I am alone.
Acolyte Zaedr continued his travels, his heart racing and his breathing becoming erratic. He wasn't being followed, there wasn't anything here, and the heart was probably acting as it was because of something trivial. This is what Zaedr wanted to believe, it is what he wanted to happen. He didn't want to see the odd liquid that was dripping around, he didn't want to think about what shapes seemed to be forming along the corridors, and he certainly did not want to notice a shadow lurking behind him.
"It's just your imagination, there isn't anything wrong, you are alone..."
It wasn't working. He was now almost sprinting but the atmosphere did not change, Acolyte Zaedr still felt as if he was not alone, no matter how much he tried to deny it. Still, he persevered, and finally made it to his destination.
The Heart of Endymion was a breathtaking sight, the subtle red glow illuminating both the room it was housed in and a few pipes that flowed through the moon. After all of the trouble getting there, the view made Zaedr feel safe. He snapped out of his trance and started to get closer, as he did have a job to do.
As he stepped forward, the feelings of sickness and unease left him, tossed aside and forgotten. Unfortunately, he also tossed any semblance of a guard along with it. When the figure that had been pursuing him stabbed him in the back, it was fast, without any struggle. The figure looked like a shadow against the Heart of Endymion, as if they were cloaked in darkness. They turned away from the fresh corpse only to find what seemed to be another shadowy figure. There was silence as the two faced each other, one much more visibly nervous than the other. Finally, one of them made a break for it, leaving the other alone in the heart's chamber.
Drip.
===
"Alright, well that's all fine and dandy for why you two should help them, but what stake do I have in it? I have other plans."
With Jeremy brought up to speed and everyone fully dressed, the tone in the room had changed a bit, with the page getting increasingly annoyed at the man who he thought hadn't said one agreeable thing the entire short time they had known each other. "Well, not anymore you don't. You are going to go with them and help them find out who killed the Grand Inquisitor." He sounded like he would punch Jeremy if anything other than a 'Yes' came out of the drunkards mouth.
Groggily getting his sense back, Jeremy reasoned that his time as a guest was probably over. From the look of embarrassment Ellena was giving him and Geoff and Wardell's uncaring faces, he was not going to easily slip out of this one. Well, not yet at least.
"Alright, alright, I'll help you with this stupid investigation." He paused then added a snide, "I guess."
The page squinted, but continued on, "Good. Now, as I said, the cult is made out of mostly genetic rejects, if you go around where most of them hang out, you might find something. I suppose that angel or whatever it was called angle could also work, but the point is that if you don't do something to find them, we'll know, and I will personally make sure that the three of you are handed right back into Calor's hands."
Geoff nodded, "Don't worry, I would like figure out what happened here just as much as you would. And I'll also make sure that these two don't run off, now, you said something about the er... genetic rejects, can you tell us where we could find them?"
"There are a few places where they could be and..." The page looked at the time, "Shoot, I have to get back, I can't take you to any of their hang outs, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Wait," Ellena spoke, "maybe I could take them to one."
The page's eye twitched a little, but he knew that he did not have the time to argue. "Fine but be careful!"
Without another word, he left, leaving the unlikely, and in some cases, reluctant group alone in a small silence.
"Well then, Ellena? I don't think I've formerly introduced myself, I'm Geoff, this is Wardell. Pleased to meet you."
"The feeling is mutual I suppose."
"Right, we've got some ground to cover, so if you could please lead the way?"