Re: The Wretched Rite - Round Two - Inferno Alpha
07-15-2012, 01:41 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.
Before the mechanical imp could properly formulate a response, several more important tasks had come up-- and, despite the anomalous living fountain and the equally curious undernourished woman now in front of him, there were more pressing concerns. The rioting sinners, the awakening of The Godbot, the collapsing state of Inferno Alpha-- as much as the imp disliked his set of begrudging obligations, he was programmed to handle them, and they were much more important affairs than a pair of particularly odd misplaced sinners. Without so much as acknowledging Olivia's presence, the imp and his posse left, leaving no time for Olivia to say much more than a confused stumble of syllables. As the footsteps of metal on metal echoed away, all Olivia could hear was the deadened roar of alarms and the sloshing of water.
Olivia desperately wished she wasn't cognizant of these proceedings. It had been so long since she had experienced a wholly lucid period, and now that it was here she could only think of how she wished it would end and she'd return to believing she was continuing her expedition. Her parasite should have taken over by now, replaced her failing sense of self-preservation with its own, but it hadn't. She was alone.
Or would be, were it not for the ambulatory river approaching her.
As much as the river guardian was curious about the imp and his entourage, Olivia was much more intriguing-- after all, she too was a steward of the Unborn. The sight of an at-least somewhat familiar face was reassuring. Alluvion hadn't interacted with her, admittedly, but they shared an inextricable connection-- or they did in the god's mind, at least. The river brought himself closer to her, drawing a wet circle around her as he circled. Between the unblinking yellow eyes and the constant spiraling around Olivia, his behavior came off as predatory-- Alluvion himself was entirely unaware of that however. He was ultimately the sum of the collective desires of tiny animals, and that didn't lend itself well to noticing that a human's cowering, hunched stance was an indication of some level of fear.
And, while he could almost detect the fear emanating from Olivia, a muddled mixture of other emotions confused his senses-- already not the sharpest, considering he was more used to the much smaller range of feelings that fish and crabs expressed. Even as the subtle fear of Olivia was lost to him, he noticed something else-- that there was something else with her. The intents and feelings he felt coursing through her were hard to describe for someone with little familiarity with the loss of control she so often experienced.
He shifted slightly.
"Um." Olivia hesitantly said. She was still processing the chaos around her, both external and the twisted feelings inside of her.
"I'm supposed to escort you back. To where you're supposed to be." She mumbled.
"What? No, I'm not going back!"
Alluvion stopped, rearing back as though insulted. The thought of returning to that boiling coffin was abominable-- he doubted the woman intended him harm, but the very notion of returning to that place was horrible. He was unaware that his rearing back only increased his size, making him an even more intimidating presence.
Olivia tensed her muscles-- partially out of her natural reflexes, but she instinctively knew that it wasn't just her reacting. At the back of her mind she could hear the ivy whispering, the vines laced along her body tugging at her limbs. She shook her head briskly, straightening herself out-- she couldn't let it take control, not when she was almost getting used to her new freedom.
"L-look, it's not something I want to do, but I don't have much choice in this. This might be my only way out of this... delusion."
She privately hoped that her words weren't placating Alluvion as much as they would appease the ivy and demonstrating it wouldn't assume control. The part of her mind that would have been amused by trying to negotiate with a plant was long gone.
"And just what are a pair of the unrepentant doing here?"
The hollow timbre of the mechanical angel's words gave the machine a frightening presence-- it clearly had intended its words not as a question as much as an accusation.
"It's now all too clear just how mismanaged the lower realms are. No wonder the celestial host has decided to intervene." It added, stepping forward to more clearly announce its presence. The angel's face would have been one of utter disgust, were it not for the absence of the mechanical components necessary to do anything more than stare intently and silently judge. Its wings adjusted-- they were clearly ornamental, comprised of layer upon layer of gilded metal feathers.
"The Final Reckoning is at hand, however. And while some of the sinners here have taken to rioting, or are being escorted out of here, somehow-- I am afraid that you are among the lucky to be witness to the Godbot's coming." The angel paused.
"So, um, could you follow me, please?"
Olivia ran. It was only after she could no longer hear the sloshing of the river guardian and the mechanical adjustments of the angel that she realized it wasn't her decision. Her vision grew blurry as time stretched and stopped, as her senses were pulled away from her control.
She stopped, uncertain of just where she was-- she was out of the labyrinthine maze of corridors, at least, but she wasn't sure just how long she had been running or just where she was now. The whispering she was so used to was starting to return-- faintly, but it was there now. She could hear it.
And after her first taste of freedom in such a long time-- even when that freedom came at the cost of such fear, such unrelenting fear-- she wanted it gone.
Before the mechanical imp could properly formulate a response, several more important tasks had come up-- and, despite the anomalous living fountain and the equally curious undernourished woman now in front of him, there were more pressing concerns. The rioting sinners, the awakening of The Godbot, the collapsing state of Inferno Alpha-- as much as the imp disliked his set of begrudging obligations, he was programmed to handle them, and they were much more important affairs than a pair of particularly odd misplaced sinners. Without so much as acknowledging Olivia's presence, the imp and his posse left, leaving no time for Olivia to say much more than a confused stumble of syllables. As the footsteps of metal on metal echoed away, all Olivia could hear was the deadened roar of alarms and the sloshing of water.
Olivia desperately wished she wasn't cognizant of these proceedings. It had been so long since she had experienced a wholly lucid period, and now that it was here she could only think of how she wished it would end and she'd return to believing she was continuing her expedition. Her parasite should have taken over by now, replaced her failing sense of self-preservation with its own, but it hadn't. She was alone.
Or would be, were it not for the ambulatory river approaching her.
As much as the river guardian was curious about the imp and his entourage, Olivia was much more intriguing-- after all, she too was a steward of the Unborn. The sight of an at-least somewhat familiar face was reassuring. Alluvion hadn't interacted with her, admittedly, but they shared an inextricable connection-- or they did in the god's mind, at least. The river brought himself closer to her, drawing a wet circle around her as he circled. Between the unblinking yellow eyes and the constant spiraling around Olivia, his behavior came off as predatory-- Alluvion himself was entirely unaware of that however. He was ultimately the sum of the collective desires of tiny animals, and that didn't lend itself well to noticing that a human's cowering, hunched stance was an indication of some level of fear.
And, while he could almost detect the fear emanating from Olivia, a muddled mixture of other emotions confused his senses-- already not the sharpest, considering he was more used to the much smaller range of feelings that fish and crabs expressed. Even as the subtle fear of Olivia was lost to him, he noticed something else-- that there was something else with her. The intents and feelings he felt coursing through her were hard to describe for someone with little familiarity with the loss of control she so often experienced.
He shifted slightly.
"Um." Olivia hesitantly said. She was still processing the chaos around her, both external and the twisted feelings inside of her.
"I'm supposed to escort you back. To where you're supposed to be." She mumbled.
"What? No, I'm not going back!"
Alluvion stopped, rearing back as though insulted. The thought of returning to that boiling coffin was abominable-- he doubted the woman intended him harm, but the very notion of returning to that place was horrible. He was unaware that his rearing back only increased his size, making him an even more intimidating presence.
Olivia tensed her muscles-- partially out of her natural reflexes, but she instinctively knew that it wasn't just her reacting. At the back of her mind she could hear the ivy whispering, the vines laced along her body tugging at her limbs. She shook her head briskly, straightening herself out-- she couldn't let it take control, not when she was almost getting used to her new freedom.
"L-look, it's not something I want to do, but I don't have much choice in this. This might be my only way out of this... delusion."
She privately hoped that her words weren't placating Alluvion as much as they would appease the ivy and demonstrating it wouldn't assume control. The part of her mind that would have been amused by trying to negotiate with a plant was long gone.
"And just what are a pair of the unrepentant doing here?"
The hollow timbre of the mechanical angel's words gave the machine a frightening presence-- it clearly had intended its words not as a question as much as an accusation.
"It's now all too clear just how mismanaged the lower realms are. No wonder the celestial host has decided to intervene." It added, stepping forward to more clearly announce its presence. The angel's face would have been one of utter disgust, were it not for the absence of the mechanical components necessary to do anything more than stare intently and silently judge. Its wings adjusted-- they were clearly ornamental, comprised of layer upon layer of gilded metal feathers.
"The Final Reckoning is at hand, however. And while some of the sinners here have taken to rioting, or are being escorted out of here, somehow-- I am afraid that you are among the lucky to be witness to the Godbot's coming." The angel paused.
"So, um, could you follow me, please?"
Olivia ran. It was only after she could no longer hear the sloshing of the river guardian and the mechanical adjustments of the angel that she realized it wasn't her decision. Her vision grew blurry as time stretched and stopped, as her senses were pulled away from her control.
She stopped, uncertain of just where she was-- she was out of the labyrinthine maze of corridors, at least, but she wasn't sure just how long she had been running or just where she was now. The whispering she was so used to was starting to return-- faintly, but it was there now. She could hear it.
And after her first taste of freedom in such a long time-- even when that freedom came at the cost of such fear, such unrelenting fear-- she wanted it gone.