ToC - Chapter 5 - The Descent of Hope
"Your spells are quite interesting. I have never met a Priestess face to face before," the Nephilim said with restrained anger. This powerless girl had stopped her from removing the Phoenix properly. That was not going to happen again. "How you have withstood the Ancient Ones' corruption I will have to figure out myself."
She held the Priestess by her mouth, almost crushing her jaw with the force of her grip. She only struggled a little before the Nephilim was able to breach her fragile mind.
Despite holding back the corrupting power of the Ancient Ones, there didn't seem to be anything abnormal about the girl. She was a human, at least biologically speaking. Her mind was incredibly sharp and curious. Maybe her goals aligned with the Ancient Ones' and they formed a truce of sorts.
A soft impact pushed against her body. It seemed that neither the Atlantean nor the Phoenix had given up just yet. Some more light pushes indicated that they were weak, though. The Nephilim paid them no attention, continuing to dig further and further into the Priestess' mind.
She once had a family, but it was ripped apart.
These Ancient Ones were not from this timeline. How was that possible?
Before she could find an answer, another hit rang across her body. It actually felt like something had hit her this time, rather than a light push. Another hit finally pulled her out of the Priestess' mind. She was done with these two.
"If you wish to die so quickly…" the Nephilim declared, holding her hand up towards the Phoenix. The girl who once glowed a brilliant orange now sat on the torn up concrete covered in burns. Her face was one of pure hatred and pain. The Nephilim didn't care. Dark flames flickered and danced across her arm, as she prepared to finish the job.
"You're not finished with us, yet," the Priestess, no, the Ancient Ones said next to her. She turned and looked into the deep purple eyes of the awakened eldritch being. The magic coursing through her body froze instantly. Her hand was forcefully removed from around the Priestess' mouth.
She had lost focus for just one moment, but had been enough to seal her fate.
More tentacles wrapped around her arms and legs, as she got hoisted into the air. The world around her faded to an infinite black void. Only the dim light of tiny, insignificant stars above her illuminated the empty plane.
"You will not harm our Priestess!" the Ancient Ones commanded. Their voice came from every direction, including from within the Nephilim's own head. For the first time, she felt her mind's steely exterior crack open.
Terror poured into her heart and soul. She began to struggle desperately against the grip the Ancient Ones had on her. The feeling of helplessness began to strangle her even more than the tentacles.
Those tentacles began to tighten around her arms and legs. Tiny pin pricks of pain spread across the areas that were wrapped, as the tentacles dug into her skin. The sensation was not very painful and the intensity did not increase beyond this amount, but it felt like it was slowly getting deeper.
When the Nephilim felt the first intrusion into her mind, though, she truly began to panic. She struggled with every fiber of her being, but it was no use. All of her magic and energy had been sapped from her body, leaving her powerless to defend herself.
These were the Ancient Ones after all. Give them one opportunity to invade your mind and you will never be able to force them out.
Suddenly, the tentacles stopped tightening. The Nephilim felt the slightest bit of relief that the Ancient Ones were no longer digging around in her mind.
That relief gave way to horror once she felt a single bit of movement along her forehead. She quickly looked up, straining her neck against the pull of the tentacle wrapped around it. There was no way for her to see the tentacle slithering down her forehead directly, but she could see dozens of much larger tentacles gathering above her.
A sharp pain caused her to lose focus. It felt like something had been driven into her skull from where the tentacle had been on her forehead. She instinctively tried to grab at it, but her limbs were still held out to her side.
Another sharp pain drove itself deeper into her skull. Unlike the previous digging that the tentacles were doing, this one was shoving itself into her mind with intense bursts of magic.
One last pang of burning, white hot pain, accompanied by her vision flashing white, rang through her skull. Her entire body went limp for the first time. The last ounces of willpower having been drained from her. If the Ancient Ones were trying to take her mind for their own, she couldn't stop them. At least the torture would stop…
"The rest is up to you to remember," the Ancient Ones said to her from directly within her mind. She heard movement above her and looked back up at the tentacles. They slammed into her just as the tentacles holding her in place let go.
The Nephilim crashed into the murky, thick liquid below. The impact sent pain coursing through every cell in her body. But that was the least of her concerns.
She was sinking deeper into the liquid.
Despite the density of the liquid, she was falling deeper into it. Any attempts at swimming also proved futile. Her eyes felt like they were going to burst, as the liquid forced its way into her eye sockets and nose. The limited oxygen in her lungs slowly ran dry and the edges of her vision began to close in.
Her next breath was the most painful of her entire life. The liquid surged into her lungs, providing no relief from the pain, only enhancing it. It took only a couple more seconds for her consciousness to fade into the darkness that surrounded her.
She was only vaguely aware of her own consciousness at first. The light tug of life pulled her mind out from beneath the dark ocean. Her vision had yet to return, but she could still sense a presence other than herself nearby. As she slowly became more and more aware of her surroundings, she could better sense who else was with her.
A shorter girl was pacing back and forth in front of her. Her hair was done up in messy pigtails. She didn't recognize who this was, but felt that she should.
The girl stopped pacing and glanced up at her. This girl's face was contorted by several emotions, none of which were positive. It seemed like she was trying to figure out what to do with her.
The Nephilim awoke on the soft forest floor. Her eyes shot open and she leapt into the air, preparing to fight.
But there was no one else close by. The nearest being she sensed, besides the wild life, was several miles away.
'Restore Hope.'
The Nephilim turned towards that nearby being, but she stopped before taking any steps in their direction.
It had never occurred to her before, but that voice was not her own. Something else was commanding her.
'Restore Hope.'
She once again felt compelled to advance towards the nearby being and restore hope to them. With her own willpower, she once again stopped herself.
The short girl with pigtails glanced up at her, a mixture of resentment, pity, and self-hatred painted her face.
Her legs wavered underneath her. What were these visions? Who was talking to her? None of these questions had answers, no matter how hard she thought about them.
However, she did know one thing.
The person who did this to her was that Priestess.
If she did not want to be seen, she wouldn't be.
The Nephilim was adept at hiding her presence from others. It was almost second nature for her to be stalking in the shadows, simply observing others from afar.
The four girls she had fought were taken to the hospital where they slowly healed from their injuries. She watched as they tried to gain a sense of normalcy in their new environment.
All the while, she felt her body pulling her towards them, trying to fight once again. She was able to maintain her distance, though, justifying it as a surprise attack. It was hard, but she could manage.
That was, until the Priestess was walking down a vacant sidewalk with only three normal humans accompanying her.
Her body finally won out and she cast a veil around them all.
Normally, her veil would only be as large as herself. This allowed her to keep as low of a profile as possible. Humans usually subconsciously avoid her veil, with more powerful, magical beings able to sense it if they got close enough. However, when the veil is expanded to a much greater size, humans might accidentally wander in and magical beings could sense it from farther away.
As soon as the veil was expanded around the Priestess, the three humans with her began to waver before quickly collapsing to the ground. The Nephilim's presence was so strong that if not contained by the veil would cause most beings weaker than her to simply pass out from the pressure.
The Priestess noticed the humans collapsing and became defensive. The Nephilim hurled herself towards her, unable to control her movements anymore. The Priestess dodged her attack and she felt the need to follow up with another immediately.
However when she raised her hand to fire a spell, nothing happened. Her mind and body were not cooperating with one another.
"What did you do to me?!" she yelled at the Priestess. The other girl raised her arms and circles of purple magic enveloped them. She made no attempt to attack, though, opting to remain defensive.
"What are you doing here?" she asked back, remaining in her defensive posture. The Nephilim could feel her magic bubbling just below her skin, itching and begging to be fired. But she continued to just stare the Priestess down. Right now, she wanted answers.
"You did something to me and now voices and visions that are not my own are invading my mind!" she screamed, a wave of magic blasting out of her as she did. The Priestess guarded against the attack, but she was still tossed several feet backwards by the sheer force of it.
A warm liquid coated her hands as she pried something apart. Some of the liquid splashed onto her face, but she did not care. She was only doing what was right. What would restore hope.
She nearly collapsed from the shock of the vision. The extreme difference in sensations and shock of the visions were almost enough to cause her to pass out. She breathed heavily, regained her footing, and focused back on the Priestess.
The other girl carefully observed her, not attacking during this moment of weakness.
"Are you seeing your past memories?" she asked. The Nephilim hesitated for a moment before launching another spell at her opponent. She ensnared the magic surrounding the Priestess and slammed her into the ground. However since the magic was not dispelled, the Priestess quickly got back up with little more than a couple scratches.
"I said these visions and voices are not mine!" she repeated again. The Priestess looked at her with a suspicious gaze.
"Those visions are most likely memories that are beginning to resurface and you just might be more aware of the voices now." The Nephilim twitched, feeling her body try to lash out at the Priestess once again. However, she held herself back this time. Her breathing became shaky as she attempted to maintain control of herself.
She couldn't help but think that if she were to lose control here, that she might recreate what she had just seen in her last vision.
She wouldn't allow herself to kill this Priestess. She wanted answers.
With all the willpower in her body, the Nephilim forced herself to remain in place.
"What did you do to me?" she repeated her first question again, but with a much softer tone this time.
"When you grabbed me, you left your mind open and I exploited that to get inside," the Priestess began to explain. The voices telling her to attack were becoming so loud that it was hard for her to hear. "Once inside, the Ancient Ones found a blocker on your memories and attempted to remove it before teleporting you away."
The pigtailed girl watched over her with sadness in her eyes. A long time ago, she might have cried over this sight, but now all she could feel was a deep sadness.
"Is there more?" she asked after a long pause. The Priestess looked at her with hesitation before extending a solitary tentacle towards her.
"I can try to properly remove the blocker now that I know it is there," she explained. The Nephilim felt her body trying to jump out from under her. She was starting to lose her grip and wouldn't be able to control herself for much longer.
"Hurry," was the only word she could get out. The Priestess nodded before launching the tentacle at the Nephilim's forehead. Her last ounce of willpower was spent on keeping herself still until the moment that the tentacle made contact.
And then, she felt the world rotate around her.
She was now staring up at the dark abyss above and she felt the cold, dark liquid brush against her back as she was slowly lowered into it.
Last time, she was frightened, terrified even. But now, she felt nothing but relief.
The liquid slowly rose up around her and she welcomed its cold, dark embrace.
Just before her face was submerged beneath the liquid, a single word bubbled its way up into her consciousness. She opened her mouth, feeling a small amount of the liquid beginning to drizzle in from the edges.
"I'm IRyS."
Ina watched as the woman who just referred to herself as IRyS vanished into a cloud of purple mist. Her tentacle now held onto nothing but air and it retracted back into a similar mist behind her. The pressure, which had been getting lighter even since she grabbed IRyS, now fully lifted.
The events that had just occurred played over and over in Ina's mind. She had been so forgiving towards IRyS and she didn't even know why. She had always been a helpful and curious person, but this was a being that was responsible for the near complete extinction of the Phoenixes. Ina shook her head, trying to clear up her thoughts. It had simply felt like the right thing to do at that moment, so that's what she did. There was nothing she could do now to change that.
The three agents around Ina began to stir, as they regained consciousness. Ina had somehow managed to keep the pizzas from getting damaged during the fight. Maybe that was the reason she was so passive during the whole ordeal. She was at least glad that IRyS had been focused on her and had not gone after the other humans near her.
"What happened?" one of them groaned. Ina opened her mouth to try and begin explaining the recent events, but the air around her suddenly grew very hot.
The next thing she knew, Kiara and Calliope landed in a fireball nearby.
"Where is she?!" Kiara screamed, hatred bursting from every word. Calliope scanned their surroundings before dismissing her scythe into a shadow.
"They're gone," she stated simply. Kiara grunted and kicked the ground angrily. She was pissed that she had let her target get away. She then focused on Ina and quickly walked over.
"What happened?" she asked her friend, repeating the question the agent had asked earlier. Ina waited until Calliope and the other agents had all gathered around her to begin explaining.
She said that IRyS had attacked her, but she managed to teleport her away, again. She left out any parts that could make it sound like she was helping her in any way. It would just make the situation easier since it wasn't important what she thought of her right now.
"She called herself IRyS?" Calliope asked once Ina was finished. The Priestess nodded.
"I don't know if it is her real name or another nickname, but she referred to herself as IRyS." Kiara scoffed.
"Who cares what that monster calls herself. Do you know where you might have teleported them to this time?" the Phoenix's eyes burned with so much anger that Ina began to feel slightly uncomfortable.
'We were able to catch a glimpse of IRyS' thoughts when we teleported her this time,' AO-chan relayed. Everyone stared intently as the words above Ina rearranged themselves. 'We believe they were teleported into a nearby forest and we might know where they are going next.'
"Well, spit it out," Kiara impolitely asked the floating words.
'There is a cave in the forest that IRyS thought of just before we teleported them. If we were to guess where she was going next, it would be there,' AO-chan finished.
Kiara and Calliope immediately turned to one another. They had overheard some Foundation agents talking about a new cave they had discovered in a nearby forest. They had been theorizing that the cave could be where Caesura had originated. It was almost certainly the cave that AO-chan had just described.
"Let's quickly report what we found and then," Calliope said, pausing slightly to smile at Kiara, "let's go hunting."
Author's Note: We finally get to see through IRyS'/Caesura's eyes. Things aren't going to so straight forward with her. IRyS' blend of dark and light will always make me want to give her the most morally flexible/gray character in any story she's in. I just think it fits her so well.
This marks the true end to first Arc in this part and I hope to get the beginning of Arc 2 out sooner rather than later.
Next Chapter: Doing Your Own Research
Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!