8.6
Eidolon
It was dark. Cold. He could barely see what was in front of him as he set Militia down. He heard Alexandria behind him with Insight, who was holding the white flame that was… Taylor he supposed. Given that she was the least likely to enter combat if it was needed, and the least able to, it was decided she'd hold it for safe-keeping.
Legend hovered directly above them.
As his feet touched the ground he looked down as he heard and felt the sloshing of water.
"Light?" Insight asked. Legend obliged, firing off five beams of gold light that orbited around them, illuminating the immediate area.
It was a cave, one composed of dark, almost black, granite.
"Thanks" Insight said as she walked past, looking this way and that way, features scrunching up in thought.
"Do you know the way Insight?" He asked.
"Trying to… this place is…" She trailed off…
There was a moment of quiet, allowing the girl to gather her thoughts.
"Just… be careful." Insight said, looking back at the group. "This… this place seems… different."
"Different how?" Growled Alexandria. David knew well enough that she didn't like secrets being kept from her. Couple that with Insight's clear lack of respect for her, as well as her lack of trust, it was grating her to say the least.
"It wasn't like this when I came here first… it was covered with ash. The rocks, the water. This is… off… I… I know we're in the same dimension as Ashburn. Same place? No so much…"
"How long would it take for us to get to her?" Legend asked.
"Not sure. Hmmm. Eidolon can you give me super hearing?"
"Give you super-hearing?"
"Well yeah. You don't have the brainpower to process half the input. I do. So can you? Yes or no?"
He hadn't tried it but…
He thought for a moment.
"Yes. Not sure if it'll burst your eardrums though."
She grimaced. "Well… I guess it's good that you've got healing powers then, too."
His lips pursed beneath his mask, irritated at the thought that he was essentially being reduced to this girl's personal multi-tool. No wonder Alexandria didn't like her.
Still, best to get this over with quick. Contessa had warned them about being here too long.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and saw her wince. She clutched her head in pain before shrugging his hand off, cutting the link and allowing her hearing to go back to normal.
She held still for a moment, eyes closed. "Alright… I think I know where to go." She said before turning and beginning to walk, the glimmering soul in her hands.
"Alright, everyone stay close and keep your eyes open," Legend called, as he began to walk.
As they moved, the only sounds were the ambiance of dripping water from the stalactites above to the water below.
Even so the dark was thick. And Eidolon, even with powers for enhanced vision, could barely see anything past the envelope of illumination Legend's power provided. Like the dark was a sheer wall, determined to cut off their sight entirely as much as it could.
Twice Insight asked that he give her the enhanced hearing again, and twice he did so. Watching as her features scrunched up in thought each time before they began to move in a slightly different direction. At the second request for hearing to guide her, he activated a power that would serve him as a compass. Realizing now that they might very well be walking in circles.
When Insight stopped again, she didn't ask him for the power.
"Something's wrong." She said.
"What is it?" Legend asked, concerned.
He heard it then… a high pitched squeaking sound. Like… a machine that needed oil or-
"Well now-" Croaked an old voice. He and Legend both turned, his hands alight with a blaster power and Legend brandishing lightning and ice beams in his hands.
"Not a cursed and not a spirit either; what do we have here indeed."
It- He came into view. A crippled old man, the squeak he'd heard was the squeal of poorly oiled metal wheels on his chair. He wore red robes and had an absurdly long beard. His fingers were long and spindly as he sat there in that chair, his… black eyes looking at the group, a small amused smile decorating his wrinkled face.
How did he get so close?
Alexandria stepped forward, looking as stern and dangerous as ever. "Who are you?"
He steepled his fingers together, his voice was… strange. Not wheezy, but not strong either. He chuckled.
He smiled. "Just an old man…"
"He's not hostile. He's amused. Think's we're gonna die down here. Knows this place really well…" Insight informed.
The old man raised an eyebrow, his smile growing just a bit wider.
"We're looking for someone." Alexandria said. "Tell us what we want and we'll be out of your… wherever this place is."
He chuckled, his whole upper torso shaking with his mirth. "To stumble into this place without even knowing it...and to still have a sense of self… I am uncertain if it is a congratulations you deserve or dismay for your ignorance." He laughed again.
He reached into his robe and each of them tensed, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
From the inside of his robe he pulled free… a tiny, glimmering shard.
It shot out of his grip, moving straight towards the glowing white flame in Lisa's hands.
"Yes. Of course with such strange happenings you would be here for our little guest."
"Taylor." Insight said. "You've seen Taylor!"
"Is that her name? Yes. I have. Pieces of her." He said. "Some here. Some there. But you are not searching for mere pieces are you. You search for the whole."
"Who the hell are you?" Militia asked, her gun trained on his head, weapon completely still even as her eyes flickered this way and that way over the sitting old man's body.
"My name is… Grandahl, a pilgrim." He gave as light a bow of his head before leaning back into his seat.. "At your most humble service."
"If you know Taylor, where is she?" Militia continued.
The old man gestured to the side. "She rests... deeper here in the Chasm."
"How much deeper?" Asked Insight before answering her own question. "Much… near the base."
The old man tilted his head in curiosity, his smile never wavering. "Indeed… We stand here at the boundary between the corporeal world and the illuminating Dark. A place where the Dark and Men can interact without dissipation or absolute dissolution." Grandahl said. "If you desire to find this person of interest… seek her where the old God fought and fell… There you will find her, and those who guard her."
"Insight?" Alexandria turned.
"It's… a person. A being. Something that calls… this place it's home." Insight answered. "And… others… Taylor's power maybe?"
"The young lady answers correctly. It makes the Chasm of Old here its domain and kingdom. Go to it. Find it…" He trailed off… laughing. "But beware… It took me an age to find it here and it took me another age to leave again. You don't have such a luxury I fear..."
"There was something there… something buried there…" Insight pointed out.
The old man's smile bled away, disappearing as his eyes narrowed.
Insight's eyes widened. "Don't let him slip into the dark! Stop him!"
He couldn't switch fast enough, but in an instant he saw Legend's hands shift their glow, the nature of his attack changing before firing off even as Alexandria pounced, tearing the ground apart at her feet, and Militia's gun fired what he deduced to be a hastily switched rubber bullet.
The dark… moved. Like a living, thinking thing, just like the Bay villain, Grue. It surged forward. But whereas Grue's power only acted like a thin veil to dull the senses, this actually rebuffed them, pushing Alexandria away and damn near swallowing Legend's beams.
Then… he was gone.
With neither trace, nor tracks nor even a hint of his existence… he was… just gone… vanished into the dark.
"Legend! Eidolon!"
They both searched, Legend with his perfect vision and beams of light that traveled in every direction, Eidolon with an array of other powers.
But he was gone… no trace of him ever having even been there outside of their memory.
"Oh shit this isn't good…" Insight cursed.
"Nothing's changed," Alexandria declared. "We were always expected to find something hostile down here. And Taylor's retrieval is our primary goal. We keep going."
Insight nodded. "Okay… Eidolon give me some hearing… faster we're done, faster we can get out of here… I don't want to be here long enough for that old guy to set up an ambush or something."
He switched out his powers, placing a hand on her shoulder again.
Soon enough… they continued. Down. Down into the fathomless, dark cavern.
(X)
Alexandria
How long have they been down here… Minutes? Hours?
It… couldn't have been days, could it? Where was the hunger? Where was the thirst? That old man mentioned it took him an age to find what he needed, and then an age to leave.
Would it take them an age to find Taylor and an age to leave then? No… they have Insight's power. They wouldn't fumble around in the dark, blind as a bat and her… essence? Soul? Would travel closer on its own once they got close enough…
And Contessa's Path would have told them if they needed food…
She lead them through the caverns… and they came upon some kind of structure... "Insight… what is this?" She asked sniffing as her nose caught the stink of oil
"Uhhh, a Brazier? ... " Insight walked around the black bowl. "Yeah. Oil. Yeah. Anyone got a lighter? Could use some extra light down here."
Legend obliged, tossing a small laser that lit up the oil with predictable ease. It burned bright, so bright after so long down here with minimal light that it actually hurt their eyes.
Now they could see… outside of the massive fireplace, there was nothing else here. Just… more cave.
"Why is this here?" Legend asked.
"Some kind of shrine maybe?" Alexandria put forward. A way-station?
"Then why is no one guarding it? Or worshiping or whatever?
Alexandria shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Whatever's supposed to be here, whatever reason it was placed here, at best it serves as a landmark. We've at least seen that we're making some progress to somewhere." She turned, looking to Insight. "Let's keep moving."
But Insight shook her head. "No… wait… Look. Now that I've seen something other than goddamn rocks a lot of what I picked up from that old guy is starting to make some sense. Most of the stuff my power is giving me is useless, like how long it would take drops of water to make pools like this but… What the old guy said; you know, about this place being a boundary between the world we live in and some other bad shit… I'm pretty sure it's true."
"Any… well… no pun intended but do you have any insights as to what exactly is on the proverbial 'other side' of this boundary world?" Legend inquired.
"Some bad shit." She answered flatly. "Someplace we wouldn't survive in… And this place has been here for… for… I don't know… Maybe… call me crazy… or… call the old man crazy but from what I got off the old man, this place has been here since the beginning of time. Or maybe just time as he knows it or something. This thing-" She pointed at the massive firepit. "Is older than half the damn cave around it. That's thousands of years at bare minimum. I would be okay betting this place is as old as prehistoric mankind or something, if not older."
Alexandria sighed, snaking a hand up her helmet to rub at her forehead. Goddamn was sh-
She paused, and saw Insight's eyes widen.
She couldn't remember the last time she got a headache.
"How long have we been in here!" She demanded, turning to Militia.
The star spangled cape looked to her watch. "One hour, fifty two minutes.
Two hours… that was it?
(X)
She followed after her, the woman in green.
Walking through deep, emerald green forests, ancient ruins, castles of fire. Through mountains where Dragons -Drakes she remembered. Not Dragons- made their home.
She'd even seen a real dragon, felt its touch on her mind.
So many things. So many impossible things.
Now… now she was going home.
She wanted to go home.
Does she?
...Yes… yes, she thinks, she does.
They left the peaks of the mountain, the gift her friend had given her in the arms of the woman. She couldn't touch it right now.
Down. Past the clouds. Past the home where all the memories resided, past the forest of green, fog, and ghosts.
Down. Deeper still. Until all light faded away from the world, and all she could see was the green robe walking ahead of her.
It was familiar.
Peaceful.
Was this her home?
It didn't feel like home.
But then. What did home feel like after all?
She walked further for a time. Moving with a simplicity of purpose. Follow the green robe.
In the dark… there was a light.
A fire. A tiny thing, stabbed through the center by a sword, or a stone that looked like a sword.
"This-" The woman in green suddenly spoke, startling her "is as far as I can guide you."
She looked around, nothing but dark, rock, and water.
"Is this home?" She asked.
The woman shook her head. "No. Your path home is here. If you cannot see it, it is only because you do not wish to see it."
She didn't?
Didn't she want to go home?
She floated, listless and numb, watching as the woman in green held her gift in her hands. Holding it with little visible strain.
She looked to the crackling flame, walking closer to it, to the comforting warmth.
She… sat… she supposed. Or perhaps the better word was to say she rested, allowing the warmth to wash over her.
"I… need to go home." She said. Knowing somewhere within herself that it was true.
The woman said nothing, merely walking to her side, placing her gift on the ground before sitting to her left.
"I will remain by your side." She said, her knees rising to her chest as her arms wrapped around them, staring into the flames along with her. "Until hope has fully withered."
(X)
Insight
"That's another.…" Lisa said as Eidolon lit another scone, the brazier going up in flames.
That makes… how… how many was that now?
She shook her head. It didn't matter
"The entrance to where we need to go is close by… follow me." Lisa walked forward, keeping to the right to avoid the sheer dark drop as she trekked into the dark caverns, the Triumvirate plus Miss Militia following.
This place had more history than Lisa could ever know… This place was old. Ancient. Older than the pre-historical times on their universe *at least.* And whatever roamed here… was just as old.
She wandered through the dark, Legend's light orbs giving them light as they avoided the sharp crags and drops that would have spelt her demise if she had taken a false step.
Back then, after the prison, she simply called out to Taylor and she slowly responded to her calls to help her. Taylor had answered. Eventually. Walked out of the dark in a half daze, confused but coherent.
But now… with whatever happened to her...
They walked… and walked… and walked. Man walking through here would be as bad as walking through… through… a power… someone's pow-
Her eyes widened… startled.
Who did she forget… who is it that she couldn't remember? Why couldn't she remember his name… he was… he was black and… and…
Oh… no.
This place… the effects that they needed Militia here for…
Lisa hurried her walking with a jog, her power now a dull ache in her head due to the steady stream of information.
She wasn't sure how much they'd walked. What distance, how many steps, or even how long before…
She found it…
The Chasm.
A giant crack in the ground, where the world just seemed to end into a sea of Dark. The path ended. And nothing, from end to end could be seen. Legend even fired off beams of light to illuminate… but they lost sight of them before they caught a single glimmer of… anything.
"Here…" She said
"Honestly. I'd say I was surprised but that's just our luck." It was… it… Eidolon! His name is Eidolon!
Gotta keep it straight…. gotta keep remembering. Keep it in her head.
"We go down there… and this will take us to Taylor… and… whatever's with her." Lisa said, looking down into the black abyss.
"Alright. Eidolon, Legend. Take Militia and Insight. If something jumps out to hit us I can take the hit better than you two. So I'll go down first."
Before Legend could grab hold of her, Eidolon held up his hand, telling him there was no need with a gesture. A second later, She, along with Eidolon and Militia were encased in a hardlight forcefield. Allowing them to stand and Legend's hands to remain free.
They descended…
So deep… so dark. It was… an impossible distance. There was no way this was any kind of natural cave formation… or anything built. Miles… she didn't even know how many. A dozen? Two dozen?
When they finally saw the ground she almost cried in relief. She was beginning to believe they might never find it.
When they finally reached the ground, Alexandria was the first to touch down, Legend hovering over her, blasts of energy at the ready as they all looked around.
Eidolon's hardlight field fell away, and just then, to her amazement, the small, wispy white flame all but leapt out of her hand.
"Ahh!" She screamed, startled, as the soul began to float away from them. Moving with a speed one could compare to a light jog.
"Taylor!" Militia shouted, moving in the same direction as Taylor's essence.
Alexandria acted first, getting ahead of it and grabbing hold of the soul as gently as she could, not willing to lose it in this place. The Soul hovered in her grip… compliant she supposed would be the word.
Legend fired off a beam of light that did nothing but illuminate straight ahead. Stronger than any other he'd fired before, it illuminated the darkened chasm for a brief instant.
Enough for her power to take it in… enough for her to see.
This place…
"We're in a tomb…" She realized. A pit of dread opening up in her stomach.
There was a gust of wind. Actual wind down here. Militia, Legend, Alexandria, and Eidolon were instantly on their guard.
When it came… it seemingly morphed out of the darkness. To their left, bleeding out into the world from the shadow.
An Angel without a face, four arms with skin that reminded her of a corpse three days dead, with four wings that glimmered like moonlight.
"Here we go…" Eidolon muttered, mentally cycling through the available attacks now that he didn't have to worry about collateral damage.
None of them did infact.
Now if that wasn't a comforting thought. The Triumvirate able to cut loose.
That made her feel much better.
"Get behind us." Legend demanded of both her and Militia.
She nodded, about to open her mouth to say something when something caught her attention.
The sound of footsteps. Running footsteps.
Perhaps it was because of how focussed she was on what appeared to be Simurgh's little brother, or perhaps, by the mere fact that she's the Brute rating that defined brute ratings, Alexandria never thought to move.
By the time she did actually look and managed to peer through the gloom of the dark to see the incoming attack she only had time for a dismayed "Oh you have got to be fu-"
The end of her sentence was cut abruptly short as a massive slab of a black sword caught her full in the torso, sending her flying back, skidding on the ground and colliding with the rocks with an explosion of debris. The wisp that was Taylor's essence escaped her grasp and fluttered away again into the dark.
Surtr. The actual Surtr, stood there like a towering monolith. A snarl escaping the helmet, its two blades in hand. One a massive slab of volcanic rock made into a mockery of a sword, the other far smaller but no less deadly, looking like a normal sword with a crossguard.
"Fuck me running..."
She wasn't sure who said it. Maybe she said it. She agreed completely, regardless.
Alexandria exploded out of the ground! "I'll take him!" She roared. "Deal with the other one! Militia! Get Taylor now!"
It was like a well oiled machine being turned on. Alexandria slammed into the armored giant. Legend and Eidolon rushing towards the other enemy, trusting her to do her part.
Militia rushed forward, giving the power-house battle a wide berth, rushing straight after the white glimmer of Taylor's soul with no hesitation that Lisa could see.
Insight ran, sprinting to avoid a rain of lightning bolts and Surtr rolling in a recovery to slam his sword on top of a charging Alexandria. She got behind some stone and hid...
She looked at the gun in her hand.
Damn thing might as well just shoot spitballs at 'em…
(X)
She sat at the fire, listening to the flames as they cracked and snapped. The herald sitting beside her, humming a tune. She closed her eyes and listened to the tune. A soothing melody.
Peace. Cradled by Dark, and warm flame…
She liked it here.
Then she felt the tug against her chest. It was… soft… almost lost. But… soon it became stronger.
It was…
a piece.
A piece of her.
Coming closer…
She waited.
Before long… it was here.
Glowing, glimmering white.
It was her. It was her… yet not her.
The rest of her?
She peered at the memories. The emotions. Felt them like phantom sensations. cradling them as she looked at this curiosity… this new thing.
The Herald came closer, kneeling at her side from where she'd stood.
"It is time… you must be made whole now." She said.
It was such a strange thing. Such an alien thing.
It was like the trickle of water from a leaky faucet. But a flash flood more overwhelming than the surging ocean. Overpowering as it was trifling…
Anger, sadness, fear, joy, humor, jealousy, curiosity, annoyance, love.
All of these things.
She was all of these things. More than that. More than these. She saw her memories, her emotions, her actions, the actions of others. All of these were her. The tapestry of her life.
She was here… she was whole…
She looked at her hands. Hands that no longer glimmered white. That were no longer nearly invisible.
But she was still… less…
She looked up, past the fire.
Dark.
No path.
… No herald either… She was gone.
She couldn't blame her.
The path wouldn't appear.
Because she was right.
She didn't want to go home…
She didn't.
It was… painful to admit… painful to give up.
But she really didn't want to go back.
She fought every day.
Every day. Day in and Day out.
Emma. The PRT. Glenn. Her father. Villains. Endbringers. Her own power. Herself.
She was… tired of it.
She'd told… she'd told Vicky that. Told her that she was tired of being angry.
But it was so much more than that. So much more than just tired of being angry.
She was… weary. Bone-weary.
The world just pushed. And pushed. And pushed. Throwing one thing after the other her way. Relentless and tireless. Like she was in a hole that she just couldn't climb out of as more and more crap kept on getting heaped over her head.
And she was just so sick of it!
Every day… she found the strength to push back. Found the strength to go in just by sheer stubbornness…
Or maybe it was because she just didn't have a choice. No escape. No escape that could leave her at peace with herself. Or with what it would do to her father.
But now… there was an escape here wasn't there?
To have felt a single day of peace. Of the burdens of the world and everything in it to be completely gone from her mind.
She almost hated the Herald, and even the Kind one for their good intentions.
Now she could remember. Think…
And it all came back to her now.
Everything she'd managed to forget for just one day.
She wanted to forget again…
It was… so much easier to forget.
There was a crunch of footsteps and before anything else could cross her mind, she saw a familiar pair of boots along her periphery, sitting by the fire, same as her..
"Sup Tay-Tay."
The words… the voice… brings a flash of memory. And her response comes before she can even think on it.
"Don't call me Tay-tay." She mumbles. before looking up at what should be impossible.
Vicky, translucent in pale white flame, was sitting at her side by the fire. Features still defined enough for her to see the smile on her face as she laughs.
"You're no fun."