Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"The same goes for me. If there's anything we can provide, do not be afraid to ask." Shadow Stephanie says positively.


"Shh," Tenebrae says calmingly, a dark hand putting a finger on Alice's lips, "You no longer need to worry about the quarrels of the mortal world. Your life has ended; prematurely."

"It disappoints me you would take your life. You were a special child of mine, and you did great things. You feared your identity, yet you destroyed it rather than trying to change it. As a final gift to you, I shall let you say goodbye." Tenebrae says after a pause.

Another figure emerges from the darkness, though much smaller than Tenebrae. It appears to be a young man dressed in a black cloak, a scythe held at his side. He smiles at Alice, offering a hand to take.

 

“No, I will try to find a way to get back on my feet. I shouldn’t stay here too long.


Alice glares at Tenebrae, feeling betrayed.
“You think I didn’t look for ways out? You think I didn’t spend sleepless nights looking for a way to keep it down?! I give up, call it quits when my inner demons finally get the best of me, and you call me disappointing after seeing the nothing I’ve become?!” She shouts, angry but crying. “If I was a special child, why am I being sent to hell?!”

 

"Very well." Shadow Stephanie says.


"You were fighting against yourself. Were your demons really an enemy, or were they something you needed to embrace and understand?" Tenebrae asks.

"Come, Alice. We have much to do." Mortius says.

 

Gaia turns to leave before hesitating.
“Oh... do you happen to know Miorah’s wherabouts?”


“If I didn’t kill myself, one of you would have. They were not only really an enemy, but they are my only enemy.” Alice retorts, heading towards Mortius.

 

"Unfortunately, I don't." Shadow Stephanie says apologetically.


Tenebrae looks hurt, and Mortius takes Alice's hand.

The whole area shifts, and Alice is back inside her house, standing above her shattered crystal. The whole town seems to have come, all mourning; Gail in tears.

Mortius stands beside Alice, watching.

 

"I think we're almost there, so clean your face before we get there."

 

“Hmm... I can’t bear the thought of more extinctions...” She sighs, walking out.


Alice sighs, feeling guilty.
“I’d done nothing for them. Hell... I should’ve used a quieter gun in the shadow wilderness.”

________________________________

She nods between bites, scarfing the last bits down.

 

Gaia's personal guard follows her out.


"You've done more than you give yourself credit for. Clearly they care a lot about you," Mortius says, "One even wants you back an awful lot, but returning a Shadow is much more different than returning a mortal due to the way your soul works."

Gail appears to be praying to Mortius through sobs.

 

She still seems a bit nervous about them, but continues on anyways.


“Oh, I give myself a hell of a lot of credit... No, I’m a borrowed soul. Gail can see me again, Tenebrae can yell at me again. See, I lost my soul back when us preservers were locked in a coliseum. I just happened to take someone else’s at a time opportune enough to make a technological breakthrough once thought impossible.”

 

"Interesting. If you're so departed from this reality, perhaps we could spend some time to talk instead of viewing the people you've affected," Mortius suggests, "Your time here isn't exactly...numbered. Tenebrae simply wanted me to let you say 'goodbye' to everyone so you could move on and become a part of her."

 

“Then let’s talk, letting someone who commit go back and say goodbye is just fucked up of her. Or, you could simply move on with this and come to my cage, I’d be calmer there.”

 

"Your cage?" Mortius asks.

 

“Consider speaking with Idhaenna after you’re through with me.”

 

"Clarity would be appreciated. If you want me to take you somewhere, you'll need to be specific." Mortius says flatly.

 

“Okay, fine. Alice’s soul was gone a long time ago. I haven’t been myself in... well, since a particularly bad day at work, and I can’t go back. So, is dumping me into Tenebrae specific enough?”

 

"So you're simply someone else pretending to be Alice?" Mortius asks, the area melting away into a grassy field.

 

“No, someone Alice used to continue on. Something she can’t do anymore; Tenebrae destroyed her, soon to be completely. I may slip back under her control in Tenebrae’s domain, but... this wound up being the best thing to ever happen to so many people. Perhaps she knew that, and wanted to be something more than her destructive self. Now I’ll never know.”

 

"I doubt Tenebrae saw Alice as a parasitic entity, then. A scary thought, letting her into her heart." Mortius says, seeming relaxed.

 

“If you want to speak with me more, Idhaenna will help you find me. For now, I want to put Alice to rest.”

 

"Then, who were you?" Mortius asks.