Long Con wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:41 pm
Stone and Spirit
The Spirit of the Living Statue stood silently amongst his new friends and their unicorn compatriots. Ever since his...shattering...he’d been prone to quiet reflection, but until now planning with his friends and the incessant prancing and chattering from the unicorns left little time for respite. He focused, quieting his mind, and soon the world around him seemed to burn away, licked by green ethereal flames. The hills, the sky, and everything in between melted and faded away, replaced by a thick, ghostly fog.
Beyond the fog, the Statue could sense the pieces of himself. They called out to him mournfully...aching. Soon the calls grew louder, closer, and as shadows began to form in the mist, the fog broke, revealing multiple exact copies of the Statues form. Each copy burned with a different color of the same ethereal fire. Three copies – one blue, one red, and the third and final clone burned an impossibly bright black. Silently they approached as they had done so many times before, and the Statue greeted them all in turn as he’d done those times past. They were he, and he was each of them. Pieces of each other, broken and yet made stronger and more concentrated as a result of their...separation.
“You all heard the call.” said Blue. “I thought it was one of us, but it wasn’t. It’s...different.” Blue’s voice was soft. Meek. Each word seemed to fall forward into the world like thick honey.
Red shot a look between his three brothers...selves...and chimed in with a harsh, sharp tone.
“What fools we are. We’ve been broken, scattered to the many winds, embarrassed. Humiliated. Made to serve, and now this….this call… Who summons us, my brothers and I?”
For a moment, the Living Statue waited quietly to see if Black would speak. He did not, and the Living Statue took that as his cue.
“I hear it even now.” he said. “Some….thing beckons us. But we must not let it distract us from our goal. We must reunite, my brothers. We must be one again.”
“No.” came the deep, chilling response from Black. His voice, unlike those of his other selves, reverberated throughout the endless space they’d carved out of this reality to make their meetings in peace. Like the cold grasp of winter wrapping its fingers tightly around the throat of spring, it terrified the others. Though they would never openly admit to being utterly horrified of their own self.
“The Gods have laid us bare.” Black went on. “Now is not the time to serve. The whole of the realm sees us as we are. They believe, with our very being exposed, we cannot have an agenda. But that will be their undoing. It is precisely because we have no Master yet to serve that we must act. Not to serve any one Master, but to serve ourselves. This calling….we must answer. There is coming a great darkness. A devastation. A…..Cataclysm.”
Blue, shivering, spoke up once more. “How do you know so much, brother? Wait...never mind, I don’t want to know. There's... there's someone here with me now. I don't know what's going to happen. Even still, what are we to do? How is this...this Cataclysm meant to help us?”
“Help us?” Red spat. “We are beyond help. All that is left for us now is do drive the rest of the Realm apart. To break it as we have been broken. Black is right, we must answer. We’ll see how they like being torn apart.”
The Living Statue held up his hand, trying desperately to regain control of himself. A monumental task given the nature of his current state.
“I have met with two living souls. They have agreed to help us reunite. A plan is in motion, one we cannot jeopardize with petty revenge schemes!”
Blue spoke again. "But I think someone is-"
“No.” Again, Black interjected, ignoring Blue, although this time he did not follow up with a grand speech.
“Please, you have to give them a chance to help us.” The Living Statue pleaded with himself. This time, Red called out.
“No.”
Blue, sensing his brothers’ eyes on him, let out a deep, soulful sigh. “No.”
Their minds appeared made up, and the Living Statue felt the shift in his own mood. His doubts and misgivings washed away, replaced by strong resolve.
“Fine. But how?”
“The Call.” said Black.
“Yes, the Call.” Red agreed.
“Not a Call, a Question.” remarked Blue.
The Call...or the Question...they referred to came in the night. Carried by the wind itself, it posed… possibilities about the future of the realm. One such possibility, as Black had already mentioned, was the Cataclysm. With all of his pieces working of the same mind, the Living Statue could feel his thoughts becoming more clear...more focused.
“We cannot bring about this Cataclysm alone.” said Blue.
“No.” called out Black, “We will need others. Many.”
“So we will go out into the realm. Corrupt their minds. Cloud their judgment. Convince them to join their voices to the Call.” Red laid out their plan, and the others nodded their assent.
The Living Statue felt a twinge of concern. “We’ve never been able to do that kind of magic before.”
“Ah my dear sweet brother.” Black shook his head.
“There’s a first time for everything.”