Apollo woke up in a scream. Bringing his knees against his chest, his hands pressing hard against his head. “Apollo?!”
Apollo: “GOD DAMN IT! FUCK! FUCK!!! FUUUUCK!!!” he yelled, as he threw his fist against the rocky surface of the cave’s floor. “DAMN IT!” Apollo kept hammering the floor. “Stop it!”Once, twice, thrice… No, it wouldn’t end so quickly. “DAMN IT! WHY?! WHAT THE FUCK?! SOMEONE FUCKING EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!” Apollo kept yelling as his vision became blurred with frenzy. His eyes still fixated to the floor, he yelled, angry, terrified and indifferent to the pain he felt in his knuckles. “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGURE IT OUT RIGHT?! EVERYTHING GOES FUCKING WRONG EVERY SINGLE TIME!”
There is no solution. There is no good ending. He causes pain. He causes despair. He saved no one. He saves no one. He will end everyone. He will end it all. There is no hope. The black stone is his mark.
A flash came through his mind.
His left arm. It was missing. Using his other red, bloody hand he nervously went to feel his left arm.
Apollo: “Haha! It’s there! Damn! I thought it was gone! Good!”
I bet my leg is there too! He thought. He pulled off the sheet covering his leg and a spike of horror went through his heart.
Where. Where was his leg? WHERE WAS HIS LEG?!
Emilia: “BROTHER WAKE UP!”
Apollo woke up in a scream. Bringing his knees against his chest, his hands pressing hard against his head. “Apollo?!”
Apollo: “What…?”
Had he just woken up?
What the actual fuck?
Beads of sweat fell from his forehead into his eyes, burning his eyeballs with acidity. He closed his eyes and stayed in a foetal position for a moment. He was cold. Cold because he was drenched in sweat. He had had a very disturbed sleep. But he could feel both arms and both legs. He could move them.
The cold. Apollo felt cold, but it was bearable. Not as bad as that deathly cold he had felt, in there. Wherever he was.
Apollo felt a spark of magic. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around the Warden, and snow, white hair covered Apollo’s head and back.
Emilia: “You scared me SO MUCH you damned fool! I couldn’t wake you up! I’ve been trying for the past thirty minutes!”
Apollo: “Sorry, sister… I didn’t mean to…”
Apollo was shivering. Emilia took notice immediately, and summoned a firebolt in the extinguished campfire. She released her embrace to throw a few new wooden logs into the fire, and went back to hold her brother in her arms.
Something was wrong, Apollo thought.
Apollo: “No, no… please not, I’m not awake yet?”
Emilia: “You are awake. You are safe. I’m here for you.”
Apollo: “You are dead. I let you die. You can’t be holding me in your arms like that.”
Emilia: “I am dead. But because the only person who cared about me, my dear brother, was too young and alone to save me. You can’t blame yourself for that.”
Apollo: “I will blame myself always.”
Emilia held Apollo tighter.
Emilia: “And I’ll be with you always. I’ve always been here because you needed me, and… I think… I think I can do this because you needed me to do it.”
Apollo nodded. Whatever was the reason why Emilia could hold him like this, she was right: He desperately needed his sister right now.
Emilia: “Too bad I’m not some red-haired princess, huh? You’ll just have to do with me.” she added, with a soft smile.
Apollo smiled as a sick child would. “Haha.” He held his sister and his weak, shivering arms, and burst to tears.
An hour passed, during which Apollo calmed down, and described his dream, down to its finest details. The Anansis believed in the power of dreams, as any scholar should in Haerii. Emilia listened, and once her brother had calmed down, was warm, and had treated his hand (as it turns out, he had indeed been hitting the rocky walls of the cavern in his sleep), she let her incorporeal nature slip in again. The ghost became, once again, a ghost. The urgency of the situation had, apparently, awakened something within her. A gift, the ability to influence the world of the living.
Emilia: “When it happened, I just… Ignored the fact I was dead? I forgot about it. It wasn’t deliberate. I just threw a firebolt because I knew the spell and you were cold, so...I don’t know.”
Apollo: “Well damn. Do you think you could do it again?”
Emilia pondered for a second. She gathered her thoughts, and as her intent crystallized her form gained tangibility. She picked a pebble from the cavern floor, and threw it against the back wall of the cave. The pebble hit the wall and fell to the floor. The cause and effect were undeniable.
Emilia: “Well, well. That’ll make things interesting. As we saw earlier, I can also throw a few spells. But doing this is… Kind of tiring. This feeling is quite new to me, but I doing this for too long is… uncomfortable.”
Apollo: “That’s your mana depleting. Nobody likes that feeling. You should “ghost” and conserve your mana for the meantime, I’m sure you’ll need that newfound strength soon.”
Emilia sighed. “I would’ve liked to experience a few things now that I can touch things in this world again, but I think you’re right. I want to try eating something material, someday.”
Apollo: “When we leave Psarosoupa, then. We don’t want to freak out some innkeeper with magic tricks...”
…
Emilia: “...Back to the dream, though. There are several things I think we should consider: The cold you felt was beyond natural. Beyond what you should be feeling in a dream.”
Apollo: “Exactly. That’s the first reason why I think it was not just a dream. That cold was an aberration I almost wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies. Just thinking about that awful cold makes me grateful for this fire. This is not something you would feel in a dream. Makes me think I was actually transported there… You know, that phenomenon where unlucky people who travel through the woods end up in some part of the Pathway? I think something similar happened to me. Or someone made it so that something similar happened...”
...
Emilia: “...Your arm was missing. You told me you saw… Old-Apollo’s arm fly off last time we were on the Pathway, you think this caused it?”
Apollo: “If the dream is a product of my mind, definitely. Seeing my own arm torn off really threw me off there. But then, what if it wasn’t a dream?”
Emilia: “On that subject, your leg was also broken. Any ideas?”
Apollo: “On that one? Not really. It’s actually unbelievable that I made it so far in the dream with the cold and the broken leg. Even the air was too thin to breathe...
...
Emilia: “...The stars were gone. All but two. And when Ryner died, one of the stars vanished.”
Apollo: “I think the stars in that sky represented life. There was no one else except me and Ryner. Both were flickering, weak. Almost extinct. Just like both of us in there. When Ryner died, one of the stars disappeared. Just before the end of the dream, when that “world” ended, I believe...”
...
Emilia: “...You heard me singing. Singing about the stars that were gone in that world.”
Apollo: “That was the most scary part of the dream. I still shiver at the thought of it… The tone you had when you sang was terrifying. But I wanted to find you. After all, we’ve been together for a long time, now, always together. Maybe, just maybe, what scared me was not recognizing that in you. As if you’d been… twisted, changed in my dream. Maybe that’s what terrified me...”
...
Emilia: “...Everything was but sand. As if everything had been reduced to it.”
Apollo: “The endless sands, coupled with the lack of stars in the sky. It felt like the end of the world. If I had to picture the end of the world, in any case, it would look like this. Everything was silent, still, cold, formless. It’s as you said: It was as if everything had been reduced to it. To sand… Or maybe ash...”
...
Emilia: “...You stood once more on the pyramid. But there was a battle there. It was covered in blood, and you found Ryner there, his eyes gouged out.”
Apollo: “I have an interesting idea on that topic. About the pyramid, that is. I think it… mirrors an aspect of us. Much like the scale mirrors the consequences of our actions, I think the pyramid mirrors our spirits. I was truly, deeply uncomfortable, scared, confused and in pain. In my dream, you seemed corrupted…
Remember when we saw the pyramid for the first time? It was right after the genocide of souls in Gigarylis. We were desperate. We felt guilty. And the gloom of the pyramid itself seemed to mirror that void within ourselves.
And when I went back there, wounded, scared, about to die… The Pyramid itself seemed to reflect that. It was a gory, horrifying scene. Maybe, just maybe the scale reflects our actions, and the pyramid reflects our minds. Or something like that. We can only conjecture with this much.
On the topic of Ryner though? No idea. Do I feel guilt over abandoning them? I don’t think so. If I felt guilt, it would’ve taken the form of Kayné. But I think they are okay, even if I can’t contact Kayné. Ryner didn’t even strike me as particularly sympathetic. In truth, I don’t care too much what that man does. He’s a stranger to me. Which makes his appearance in my dream all the more troubling. Is there a significance to him I don’t understand? To these eyes of him?...”
…
Emilia: “...Where the Scale of Souls stood, there was nothing left of the Stone of Salvation. Only the Black Stone remained. A large, black stone.”
Apollo: “Yes. The meaning of that seems pretty clear cut. In that dream, the amount of harm we cause is unthinkable. We might’ve been the cause of the world’s end, like the “older me” tried to tell us, i think.
When I look at all the pieces together, the scenario that makes sense to me is that in that dream, I was in the skin of “Older Me”, surviving, and witnessing what came after his reality… “cracked”. His… our arm was missing from his fight with Arsi. He might’ve broken his leg when he fell into the emptiness like we did. And the landscape and the sky in that dream were much like what one could describe after the end of the world. Everything was but ashes, all the stars and the sun were gone, warmth had disappeared from that world.
The only thing left was his kill count. His guilt. The pyramid, covered in blood, and the Black Stone. Everything else he had destroyed.”
The Anansis stayed there, silent, for a little while.
Emilia: “Your dream kind of makes sense. Except for the Ryner part.”
Apollo nodded.
Emilia: “So what do you plan to do now?”
Apollo: “I guess… I have to keep going. I’ll still look for the Interragnum.”
Emilia's face tightened. “Aren’t you afraid you will repeat the same mistake?”
Apollo: “I am. But I believe it is better for someone who fears it, who fears the consequences of using it to acquire the artifact. Who knows what would happen if the wrong person got to it. Maybe that’s what happened to the other Apollo, maybe he lost it to someone else after he found it.”
Emilia: “Or maybe him using it had a direct consequence that caused the end of the world.”
Apollo: “I can’t deny that. And I can do little more than speculate.”
Emilia: “Indeed. But maybe, just maybe, if we get to it, we can make sure it’s safeguarded. I think that’s a good first step, don’t you think?”
Apollo looked at his sister, surprised.
Apollo: “I think it’s a good idea. We can at least look for it to make sure it’s in a safe place. Then we can consider using it, or not.”
For some reason he could not understand, a weight fell off Apollo’s shoulders. He had a very distinct impression to have made the right choice. And Emilia’s expression seemed to convey a similar feeling.
Emilia: “You know, even if we found the Interragnum… It just doesn’t feel like we should use it, somehow. I don’t know if I could use it.”
Apollo: “I think I understand. I’d be too scared to use it for myself. If I were to use it, it would be for you. For Kayné too. No one else.”
Emilia smiled.
Emilia: “Thank you. Such a sweet, big brother.” She gave Apollo a smirk. “And what world would you build for me and Kayné then?”
Apollo: “You know, now that I think about it…” Apollo paused. He had not played that dreaming exercise in a long time. “You would be alive. And I think you, me and Kayné would be living… Somewhere tranquil.”
Emilia: “Not in a city though. Kayné would hate it. But not in complete wilderness either, I’d get bored…”
Apollo: “In a farm? Somewhere close to a city but far enough?”
Emilia: “It needs to be classier! Please, between your sister and a princess, you need something flashy! Like a castle!”
Apollo: “For the three of us? No way. It would be such a pain, and the maintenance and heating costs would be too high… I got it. A wine domain! With people taking care of the grapes while we enjoy our lives and Kayné goes to punch animals and threatening monsters in the neighbourhood.”
Emilia: “Domaine De La Anansi, with specters and princesses!”
They both laughed.
Emilia: “Naturally, a wine domain worthy of us would need to be in the right place: Coronata, the country of fae, wine, and sunshine.”
Apollo: “Ab-so-lu-te-ly perfect. You’re a genius, sister.”
Emilia: “Tell me something I don’t know!” she winked.
The siblings went on for a few hours like that, talking about hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows. They had not talked like that for a long time.
How fortunate he was, thought Apollo, to have such a wonderful sister.
Eventually, time passed, and after fear, despair, hopelessness and finally respite and healing, the cycle of misfortune came to an end. And on that note, the siblings prepared to leave once again, ready to tackle anything that came their way, together.
Kayné Rang D
Messages : 546 Date d'inscription : 13/08/2013 Age : 32
Apollo’s temporary shelter in the Psarosoupean mountains, 29th of October, 4846, 08:23.
Apollo finally awoke from his long nightmare, not without carrying a few scars over from the dream world. But his limbs were here ad so was his sister. Probably most of his mind too. Though it was difficult to say in the confusion following his awakening. It was likely that this night would haunt him for a while. On top of everything else, he was insanely tired now. As far off a good night’s sleep as it could have been without him dying in his sleep. Assuming he didn’t. Which would make some amount of sense what with Emilia now being able to touch him and all.
But best not to think too hard about that just yet. The ghostly sister herself, first had a panicked brother to calm down. Which she did, admirably at that. At least as much as could be done under the circumstances and without getting him drunk, drugged or toyed with using magic. Emilia really had a gift for shinning in these kinds of situations, something that made all the more terrifying the prospect of her becoming something like Apollo had just dreamed about. How does one go from her to that? How does Apollo go from Apollo to 101? So many questions to which they may never get the answers to, now that future Apollo was dead. But best not dwell on that either eh?
Man, things had been looking grim for the siblings ever since they left the hunter’s guild back at Nanonephar! Not that things were exactly sweet there either that said, entire group almost kicked the bucket twice within the few days they had been there. What about Dormnuill then? Yeah things were all right back in Dormnuill! Until Aodan decided to become a total dick and get the band branded as criminals at least.
In the end, maybe it wasn’t so bad for Apollo to be out here in the Psarosoupean sticks at the moment.
As per their usual routine following dramatic events and revelations, the two remaining Anansis put forth their best efforts to makes sense of and rationalize what had happened to Apollo. A lot of good points were brought back and forth, good theories if nothing else. Maybe that vision had been some sort of grand prophecy for the future of Haerii, maybe it was just a nightmare brought forth by Nikolay’s curse. No one could know for certain. Maybe it was both.
Either way, time to move on to happier thoughts. The siblings fantasized for a while of what would become of their lives once their goals were met. A pleasant exercise, despite how unlikely things were to go their way, going from their current situation. And yet, perhaps their biggest fantasy of all was that they would one day manage to nail Kayné down to a domain.
Still, at least the siblings’ shenanigans ended up cheering Apollo some more and gave him renewed purpose, if not vigour. It was time to hit the road again.
His horse was here, his things were here, his owl was here, his sister was here, his mind was here, mostly. Luckily, there was no horde of monsters or bandits waiting for them at the exit of the cave. Although it would be a lie to say all uneasiness had left the young man’s mind. After all, shortly after leaving his shelter, the nagging feeling that he was being watched set right back in. Whoever or whatever that was, it was damn persistent! Some kind of wild predator perhaps? But how could it be, this feeling had started all the way back at Axladi. Perhaps the brother had earned himself some unwanted attention of the humanoid kind. This could be most unfortunate, depending on what it turned out to be. Yet at least for now, whatever it was, had made no move against him. Perhaps it was all indeed in his head?
At any rate, the rest of the day went by rather uneventfully, with Apollo thanking the gods for that no doubt! Had he had to fight on that night’s sleep, things could have easily gone south rather quickly, firebolt spewing sister or not. The night went by as quietly as the day, nothing came of it, Apollo was able to rest properly this time, although I assume with some difficulty falling asleep.
Northern Piateles, 30th of October, 4846, 08:23.
Now this next day, it was especially quiet. Almost too quiet even. From the early morning to the evening, Apollo did not see or hear a single living being. No birds in the trees of the surrounding forests lining the rocky paths of the mountains he was treading. No passing wayward and weary travellers. No wolves stalking him from the shadows. Not a peep beyond Emilia’s usual parade. This had not been immediately apparent upon awakening but after a few hours on the road, it became painfully apparent that the little group was very much alone in the wilderness. Hopefully the world had not ended yet, without them noticing it!
All jokes aside, the weather was getting a bit chillier! To be expected though, what with the changing of the seasons and the high-altitude Apollo was currently traveling at. Of course, this cold had nothing to do with the one from his dream, to the point were comparing them seemed insane. Still, this was enough for the poor man to wonder why he couldn’t go necromancer hunting on the sunny beaches of Costa Del Parasol for once!
That was especially the case, when near mid-day Apollo had the chance to have yet another encounter with his absolute favourite weather phenomenon! More fucking fog! Like wow! Fuck this country!
Ambiance:
Still, what with being short on options, I assume he stepped somewhat reluctantly through the fog, possibly hopping that Nikolay hadn’t gotten lost and had come around full circle or some similar shit. This time around, it was no short spell of bad weather either. It took the young man a solid two to three hours to pass the paths and small plateau where the fog seemingly had claimed residency. Thankfully, although the paths were narrow, there were somewhat better maintained than the rest of the dirt roads Apollo had had to cross on these mountains up until that point. The small plateau slightly over the mid-point to the peak of the summit, made for a nice, albeit creepy, resting stop. Doubts were gnawing at his mind once more, now that he was yet again surrounded by walls of white. Poor visibility, poor life choices, poor as in fucking broke, thanks to Nikolay. Oh well, at least he made it out of that particularly foggy area eventually, without running into any supernatural disaster this time no less!
And so, the journey continued, until night befell them, just as they saw a small town’s lights in the distance. A couple hours later, they had at last reached this safe(?) haven. The town was but a couple hundred houses built near the base of the mountain, on a smoother slope than those crossed by Apollo during the previous days. The surroundings were busy enough, despite the late hour. People were still hitting the taverns, others were on their way home after a day’s hard work. No one seemed to pay the warden any mind just yet. Proof that strangers were not necessarily that rare a sight in these parts, despite the town being so remote and hard to reach. Of course, Apollo later found out that several roads and paths could lead tot hat place, though most started further into the Piateles region. He had after all taken quite the shortcut to come here from Axladi, crossing the border between the Tiria and Piateles region. But at last he was here. Finally, he had reached his destination.
Except he didn’t.
Here’s the thing, the village that was rumoured to be in league with necromancers was named Saganaki, also it was a village, not a town, which is what he had landed in. This place was called Katsikolofos, it was a small town further down the road he had travelled, supposedly located a while beyond Saganaki, which was what he was originally gunning for. Yet, looking at the map, there could be no mistake made, he had followed the correct path, which is in turn why he had ended here. Yet he had seen no trace of any villages on the way. Sure, there had been a metric shit ton of fog there for a while and he couldn’t see two meters ahead of him but tit couldn’t possibly have been that bad right? Surely, he would have noticed somehow if he had crossed a freaking village?!
And thus, Apollo was now left perplexed, having seemingly passed his destination, having gone too far. It was now roughly 1 am in the morning, what does the warden do?
Terror:
Previously 51!
Anansi Powah:Emilia does her best to cheer up her brother after the shitstorm that has just hit him, and succeeds, to some extent. Additionally, the siblings come up with theories to make sense of it all, although it is ultimately unclear wether their theories are reassuring or utterly alarming. (-15)
MFF (More Fucking Fog):Apollo has a temporary(?) traumatic reaction to fog! (+3)
Where the fuck am I? :This isn't where you are supposed to be, or have went. What the actual fuck. At least none of the townsfolk have bitten you yet. Perhaps you should bite them! (+1)
By the time Apollo realized he had entered the wrong settlement, he had crossed the town's gates and was on his way to an inn for the night. After all, it must've been close to midnight, the inquiries could wait another day.
Except he had landed in the wrong fucking town, and the inquiries would have to wait longer than tomorrow morning.
Thinking back on it, and tracing his way back using the map, he realized he should've reached Saganaki by midday. Right when he was in the middle of that thick fog.
No way he simply crossed through the village without noticing. It was far too unlikely. He had been duped by some enchantment. Likely something to do with the fog. Luckily, if the village had been alerted to the presence of a warden looking for them, the welcoming committee for Apollo would've outclassed him by far. So he was probably still incognito.
At least that was good. Probably.
Apollo gave mental instructions to Tenjin.
Apollo: *Tenjin. We're staying here for the night. I'm going to find myself an inn to sleep, you are free to do what you wish and hunt for food. However, I want you to remain on the lookout for anyone that might've followed us, or is stalking us tonight. I feel like I'm being watched... Ever since we left Axladi.*
Apollo had enough money for a room in a cheap inn still, and so he went to look for one. Leaving his horse at the stable, he bought himself a hot meal and a night's sleep under a roof, in a clean bed.
The next morning, as he was eating his breakfast, he inconspicuously asked the innkeeper for directions to Axladi, insisting specifically on what were the milestones on the road there, including any villages he might come across and where specifically. Should the innkeeper mention Saganaki, Apollo would insist to know more about the village and how to reach it.
Accueil Guide de Jeu 
