Nekomimi-Maiden/FallenStarsLog

(2:43:51 PM) Storytelleress: Kei finds herself in Yu-Shan, unsure of who is ahead in the games because the skydome of Heaven is obsidian.. the streets are empty and silence has fallen over the city (2:46:42 PM) ***Kei grimaces a moment, looking around the area. Aggravating. She glances to her ring, smacking her cheek lightly to try and snap out of it, before making her way through empty streets towards the nearest major fixture - the Dome, the Bureau, whatever was closest. (2:51:33 PM) Storytelleress: the sky occasionally crackles and turns grey, its like everyone left the city in a hurry (2:52:58 PM) ***Kei sighs softly as she walks. "And what do you hope to achieve by showing me this, Hymn? Is this your goal or your fear?" She asks the empty streets as she passes through them, frowning (2:55:01 PM) Storytelleress: there's another crackle from around a nearby corner followed by a dull humming sound (2:56:30 PM) ***Kei frowns some, slowly making her way to the corner, looking around it carefully. No sense being incautious. (2:58:49 PM) Storytelleress: there seems to be a dull grey shapless mass in the corner, even as Kei looks at it its slowly expanding (3:01:39 PM) ***Kei blinks, frowning some as she studies it a moment to try and get an idea of what it was.. (3:03:27 PM) Storytelleress: anything Kei touches the grey mass with doesn't come back, her charms simply read it as "nothing" (3:06:10 PM) ***Kei frowns, backing away from it a moment and taking a breath. Need to find a way out of here before that finishes growing.. (3:07:43 PM) Storytelleress: fortunately for Kei its expansion is a slow one (3:11:18 PM) ***Kei glances to her ring and concentrates a moment to see if she can sense Viola's emotional state at the moment, or if this was blocking her off completely, before making her way towards the Bureau building. (3:12:59 PM) ***Sesus_Viola is anxious, possibly in danger but not immediate. (3:21:16 PM) ***Kei glances back at the blob to be sure she wasn't being followed by it, shaking her head as she continues towards the Bureau. Alternately, a Gate. (3:28:08 PM) Storytelleress: Kei finds her way to Gate 32, unsurprisingly at this point its unguarded (3:29:47 PM) ***Kei shivers a bit. Marama's Fell. Well, may as well take a look into Creation, since she's not seeing anything she can make sense of here... She makes her way through the gate (3:32:34 PM) Storytelleress: shortly after arriving Kei sees that the concentration and death camps that once blighted Marama's Fell have somehow returned.. there's black smoke and a burning smell that she's pretty sure is people (3:35:00 PM) ***Kei covers her nose reflexively, blinking and making her way towards the smoke, eyes narrowed. Whatever Hymn was trying to show her, she was not pleased.. (3:41:52 PM) Storytelleress: when Kei gets close enough she recognises the shambling of zombies who make up the camp guards and most of the victims look perfectly normal... this isn't some callback to Marama's Crusade against Solar created races this is some new atrocity (3:47:01 PM) ***Kei narrows her eyes, making her way forward towards the camp to see what she could and interfere however she might be able to. The Maiden in the Road comes to the front of her mind as she draws near, intent on reaching the center of the camp to see the root of the calamity. (3:52:03 PM) Storytelleress: after a while of watching the camps Kei catches sight of a large armoured figure clad head to toe in dark Soulsteel armour simply watching the violence perpetuated against the living (3:58:36 PM) ***Kei narrows her eyes as she approaches the figure, doing her best to identify him. "You. This has gone long enough." Her caste mark flares as she invokes the Storm-Shattering Silence - blue turning violet for an instant flash and rippling out through the camp, illumination tearing through the walking dead and shredding reanimated flesh from bone. (4:08:14 PM) Storytelleress: the zombies fall until nothing stands between you and the armoured figure who draws his daiklave slowly (4:09:37 PM) ***Kei settles into a stance of her own, bells on her ankles chiming lightly. "What is the meaning of this, deathknight?" (4:13:24 PM) Storytelleress: "can it be? a Sidereal?" (4:16:21 PM) ***Kei studies him cooly, still remaining in her cautious stance. "So you know, then. It seems Creation's changed since I was last here. What has happened?" (4:19:56 PM) Storytelleress: "the rivers have ran red with blood and the stars have fallen from the sky, the endtimes are upon us" (4:20:51 PM) Kei: "Your masters' doing? Or some other?" (4:22:27 PM) Storytelleress: "my masters merely finished what the Fair Folk have started, this is a mercy" (4:26:36 PM) ***Kei frowns. "A Third crusade?" (4:32:05 PM) Storytelleress: "the crusade to end all crusades" (4:32:43 PM) ***Kei slowly settles out of her stance - still cautious, but the Deathknight seemed willing to talk more than fight for the moment. "What of the returned Solar Exalted? The Lunars? There was no Contagion this time, no?.." (4:39:05 PM) Storytelleress: "they fought and they died" (4:40:29 PM) Kei: "And Heaven, as well?" (4:43:51 PM) Storytelleress: "the last to arrive and the last to fall" (4:47:19 PM) ***Kei shakes her head some. "...so they invaded and tore everything apart... Do you know anything of a strange gray thing of nothingness?" (4:48:29 PM) Storytelleress: "the Bishop speaks of it as Oblivion incarnate" (4:54:03 PM) ***Kei frowns some. "Strange.. nothing survives but vultures picking remains? (4:57:27 PM) Storytelleress: "and we who hasten the coming of death" (5:04:06 PM) ***Kei sighs softly. stepping back a half-step. "I see..." She frowns. A disturbing prophecy. But she needed to find a way away. "..." Leaping into oblivion didn't appeal much, but, this sort of dream-state world usually obeyed disturbing rules like that. (5:08:57 PM) Storytelleress: he extends his hand to you (5:14:03 PM) ***Kei pauses a moment, looking to the hand before, tenatively, taking it - ready to pull away, but given that he seemed the only living being left... (5:16:24 PM) Storytelleress: "I promise this won't hurt for more than an instant" (5:26:59 PM) ***Kei nods. "Fine. I know when a battle isn't worth picking." She bows her head. "...a pity. Perhaps if those of oblivion had joined Creation against the Raksha, this world might not have been doomed." she smiles softly to him. (5:32:41 PM) Storytelleress: he strokes her hair for a moment before striking at Kei's heart, for a moment the illusion seems real but as the world slips away it doesn't fade to black but rather to a twisting nether of possible worlds (5:34:33 PM) ***Kei nods and takes a breath as she looks over the twisting passages, closing her eyes. She has a destination and a path now: The realm of Oramus in her own Creation. A faint yellow gleam casts over her eyes as she opens them once more, looking over the countless paths before her to find the one that resonated most. (